Yucca Mountain to the Shoshone
Shortly after describing Yucca Mountain as a mountain that is “not pretty” the narrator offers a more elegantly metaphorical description by way of translating the myth of the Native American tribe which came to be known as the Shoshone:
“The Shoshone say that Yucca is the carcass of a snake, a giant desert creature that was trying to find a drink collapsed there in exhaustion, rotted as it died.”
Metaphorical Quote
Immediately after the author paraphrases this ancient mythic metaphor, he turns to the power of quoting others as a means of creating his own metaphorical commentary upon the value of ancient belief. The quote comes courtesy of Edward Abbey, a 20th century essayist accused by his detractors of being an environmental anarchist:
“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.”
The narrator leaves it at that, allowing readers to draw their own inferences as to how Abbey’s observation applies to the ancient myth. And that is part of the power of metaphor; it is open to interpretation.
Screaming
Screaming becomes a potent metaphor for society and civilization’s cries for help and the way in which modernization has hushed the volume of that cry. From the Edvard Munch painting “The Scream” to sociological phenomenon of the Tsimane to advertisement slogans for GM Pontiac Grand-Am, screaming is presented less in literal terms than metaphorical.
“This car drives like an absolute scream”
Here is the simile in which the metaphor of “screaming” is specifically situated within the world of mass consumer advertisement. As an example of how screaming has lost its potent vitality as both a literal and figurative incarnation of the “cry for help” it could hardly be less appropriate. Essentially, this a simile without any literal connection. No car drives like a scream because, indeed, what would it even mean for anything to drive like a scream? How, exactly, does a scream drive? The flattening out of meaning of language in the post-industrial world of advertising is made tangible with this example.
“It’s like an entire course in a box.”
This simile references the education shortcuts mandated by lacking of proper funding. The course in a box to which it refers specifically is the Yucca Mountain informational packet created for teachers as part of the “The Science, Society and Nuclear Waste” curriculum for local teachers.
Simile of Scale
The immensity of the desert is compared to the universe, evoking a sense of infinite space and the overpowering magnitude of nature. This simile emphasizes how the vastness of the desert has an existential effect on both the reader and the narrator.
