Metaphor for moving out of one’s comfort zone
Neil makes constant reference to Christopher Columbus because by his reckoning he too is a kind of "explorer of the unknown” but instead of mysterious far flung islands he is making a foray into the equally alien world of the affluent Jewish community of Short Hills. He, like the explorer, braves obstacles such as condescension and ridicule in order to savor the life that the rich experience and the sweet prize of being able to bed the lovely scion of the Patimkin family.
Metaphor for success
Neil’s family lives in the poor Jewish area of Newark, New Jersey. The Patimkins used to live there but when the clan patriarch struck it rich selling sinks and plumbing supplies they make an exodus to the affluent suburb of Short Hills. This literal act of moving up and out is a metaphor for success as you can only make it out of Newark if and when you have enough money coming in regularly enough to afford living in a place like Short Hills.
Metaphor for a distant, unattainable goal
The little African-American boy who visits the library daily to look at the book of Gauguin paintings of native women in Tahiti and Neil share much in common. Neil dream of him sailing away from Tahiti on an old, wooden ship, while being serenaded—or sung a lament for—by lovely dark-skinned women. Neil empathizes with the boy because he, like him, also fantasizes of living in a paradise which current circumstances will not allow them to reach. Neil dreams not just of being able to afford living in the glamorous suburb of Short Hills but he also fantasizes of being able to “afford” the respect and admiration Brenda Patimkin’s family whereas the young boy dreams of making it to Tahiti.
Metaphor for Neil’s Relationship with Brenda
The Patimkins are completely absorbed with sports, games, and competition. Neil’s exposure with Patimkins rubs off on him and he begins regard his relationship with Brenda and his interactions with her family as a form of competition, a contest of sorts. There is a constant pressure that Neil feels from Brenda’s family and as such sports and contests of skill become a metaphor not just for his tense relationship with Brenda and the Patimkins but it also becomes a metaphor for his feelings of inadequacy in the face of their wealthy lifestyle.
Metaphor for victory
The Patimkins are obsessed with sports. They love it not just because it is one of their businesses but also because of the hyper-competitive family culture—Patimkins love winning—and sports presents them with an excellent avenue to engage in stroking their egos and rack up the victories that they love so dearly. It turns out that Neil is also into this and he describes his first sexual encounter with Brenda in terms of “winning” using the metaphor of the competitive game. Sex and victory become synonymous because of their class differences, having Brenda as a girlfriend represents a symbolic socioeconomic rise for him and sex with Brenda, a definite “win” for him as he is finally able to best her at least in that regard.
