Metaphor for the social norms
The first thing the guests are able to see is the place where the sheep belonging to the community are held. Instead of using electric fences, the community decided to use simple pillars and strings when they saw that the sheep remained in the enclosure even if the fence was not electrified. The fence is used here as a metaphor to suggest that the social norms we sometimes follow are just like the strings holding the sheep in the enclosure. While they pose no threat to us, we are reluctant to break them, fearing that we will have to suffer unspeakable consequences.
Metaphor for transparency
In the sixth chapter, the visitors see for the first time the canteen where the members of the community eat together. The trays they are served in are all made of glass and Frazier points out that because the trays are made of glass, it is easier for them to clean them without turning them over to see if there was any dirt on the other side. The trays are used here as a metaphor for transparency and it shows that the community wanted to be as forthcoming as possible with their intentions and with their way of operating things.
Metaphor for confinement
The children in the community are all held in heated glass cubicles after they are born, without any clothes on them. This aspect, combined with the fact that the children were held in heated cubicles instead of being cared of by their mothers shocks the visitors who could not understand why the children will be raised that way. However, it becomes clear that the community’s purpose was to eliminate everything that would make the children and the members of the community fell constrained. Thus, clothes are used here as a metaphor for confinement.
Just like God
In chapter 33, Frazier takes Burris to a place overlooking the whole community. There, he sits on a tree trunk and begins looking at the people in the community through a telescope. In that moment, he compares himself to God, being the creator of the community. He claims that he loves the people in the community as if they were his own children and when Burris tries to figure out if Frazier is joking about being a God he soon finds that he was serious when he compared himself to God. This passaged showed that even though Frazier wanted to leave the impression that he was different, he was still consumed by greed just like any other person.
Walden Two and fascism
Towards the end of the novel, Castle compares the Walden Two community with various fascist governments he had the chance to study. Through this comparison, Castle wanted to point out the idea that he felt that the way Frazier chose to organize his community was tyrannical and not desirable at all.
