This Gun for Hire
Raven is a contract a killer. A hired gun. But in his business, the eyes are everything. And an early simile makes this clear:
“His eyes, like little concealed cameras, photographed the room instantaneously: the desk, the easy chair, the map on the wall, the door to the bedroom behind, the wide window above the bright cold Christmas street.”
Mr. Davis Gets a Wonderful, Awful Idea
A character called Mr. Davis is suddenly struck with an evil idea that fills him with about as much excitement and thrill as when the Grinch came up with his caper. One can almost picture the smile of Mr. Davis stretching into eternity as those thoughts are described in metaphorical poetry:
“A sudden venom spurted up into Mr. Davis's mind like the ink a cuttlefish shoots, staining his thoughts with its dark poison.”
Raven
An important element of the hired gun at the center of the novel is his alienation and isolation from society and the coldness within which has made such an effective assassin. In turn, much is made of a physical deformity of his facial features as a being a contributor to his sociopathic personality:
“I thought this Raven was about as ugly as they are made.”
The Darkness
Once again, a 20th century writer of fiction turns to darkness: that most omnipresent of all metaphors of the last century. Crack open a novel and one can expect to find the darkness metaphor somewhere.
“he wasn't listening to her; he was making his own plans in his own darkness.”
“the occasional memory of Raven was only like the darkness pressing round the little lighted crib”
Mr. Cholmondeley
Turns out Raven the hired gun is not the real villain of the story. Who could be worse than a sociopathic mercenary willing to kill anyone for any reason for money? Hint: what about the coward who hires someone to do this dirty work? About one Mr. Cholmondeley:
“He was fat, he was vulgar, he was false, but he gave an impression of great power as he sat there with the cream dripping from his mouth. He was prosperity, he was one of those who possessed things”
