Pure Metaphor
Sometimes a reader comes across a sentence that is constructed almost purely of metaphor. The following example reveals the ways that different images can be connected to the other—or stacked atop one another—to extend the metaphorical imagery across the entirety of the expressed thought:
“Four dark steel-rimmed chimney stacks, like Egyptian obelisks, rose right outside the station, as if declaring This is Where it Ends—though in truth it did not end here, there, or anywhere—always expanding, this city of Sydney, except for those whom it was always contracting.”
Unintended Humor
Crafting paragraphs using metaphor is not as easy as it seems. The imagery needs to seamlessly connect to the description of literal action in a way that makes sense. Otherwise, one runs the risk of the connection creating a moment of unintended nonsensical absurdity. For example, the unintended consequence here at first seems to be that the blue mist is the result of the sneeze rather than the other way around:
“Danny sneezed. A blue mist sat in the trees like on a throne and the smell of smoke was everywhere: he guessed at once there was a fire in the mountains.”
Hyperbole
On the other hand, sometimes the metaphor is used in attempt to go for comic effect. An especially effective to create a comical image is absurdist hyperbole. Taking a situation to a common and familiar extreme facilitates the impact of the overstatement and that’s the point:
“At once the ticket policeman turned into a cartoon figure, raising his eyebrows and emitting a stream of high-pitched outrage, as if he thought he had to look and sound like a clown before he could dispense the law”
Understated Overstatement
Overstated hyperbole is one effective means of using the comparative power of simile. The opposite is also efficient for creating the same sort of effect. The vision of the policeman becoming a cartoon figure is capable of producing a smile because of the familiarity of the imagery. The following example is capable of producing a smile because the overstatement is comically understated:
“On the sunlit face of an old brick warehouse was a white stenciled sign that looked as old as civilized life in Sydney.”
A Cornucopia of Metaphor
It becomes quite evident early on that the author is enthralled by the power of connecting metaphor and similes. The first example above may seem like a complex demonstration of this power, while in reality it is barely registers on the spectrum in comparison to the dedicated flourishes of this power to come:
“A great curved building, like a stage set, announced the end of Glebe and the start of Broadway. Now, not part of the city was really safe from the immigration, but Glebe was a glad inside Sydney’s rain forest of light—leafy, lefty, defiantly full of churches—and when you came and stood here, on Broadway, and saw, a few feet away, two palace-like shopping malls, identical twins, each crowned by a green globe”
