Ambiguity
Oates is a master at using precise figurative language to create a sense of ambiguity and possibility. The single most effective example of this is the line which brings “The Doll” to a close. It is a testament to Oates control of language that it would work equally well as an opening line”
“Like an exquisitely precise clockwork mechanism, a living mannequin, she would always do well: you’ll applaud, too, when you hear her.”
Clouds and Brains
Another effective way that Oates utilizes metaphorical language is through an unexpected and often jarring juxtaposition. For instance, in the story “The Guilty Party” Oates begins a new section by description a Friday occurring at the end of the month as passing in “erratic surges” and then presents a series of similes to convey this image:
“…like a flotilla of clouds. Like April storm clouds puffed and puckered with thought. Like a semi-drunken procession of brains.”
That sudden unexpected shift from the clouds to brains has the effect of creating a sense of the grotesque as the collection’s title indicate it should, but it is also aesthetically parallel. Brains do sorta look like clouds when you think about it.
The White Cat
The story titled “The White Cat” is essentially a modern retelling of the classic Poe tale “The Black Cat.” Aside from a change in the color of the cat, Oates also decides to reduce the horrific elements of the original plot and transform the story into a more metaphorical tale of terror. In this instance, the title character can be interpreted as a metaphor for the wife of the protagonist who projects his inability to deal with the fact that his wife does not love him as he thinks she should onto a Persian feline who seems disinclined to treat him as its master.
Complex Metaphor
The story “Thanksgiving” is simple on the outside: a straightforward narrative of nightmarish post-apocalyptic horror in which a father and his daughter go shopping at a grocery store for Thanksgiving dinner items. The grocery store becomes a genuinely terrifying location more at home in an ancient myth about passing through the underworld than even the usual last-minute dash to the local supermarket. Imagery, allusion, context and subtext all combine to transform this hellish portrait of familiarity into a metaphor rich in meaning that extends far beyond any one single symbolic status. What is going on metaphorically inside the simple narrative will depend largely upon what each reader brings to it.
Metaphor as Character
Another common recurrence of metaphor and simile found throughout the collection of stories is that which delineates character. Oates is fond of presenting a portrait of personality through comparison that imply yet still allow the reader the opportunity to infer, thus perhaps allowing two different readers to arrive at two different conclusions. For instance, what does the following say about the female protagonist of “The Bingo Master” and how is what it says through figurative language more vivid than it would be through mere literal explanation:
“The alcohol is a warm golden-glowing breath that fills her lungs and overflows and spreads to every part of her body, to the very tips of her toes; the tips of her ears. Yet her hand is fishlike; let Joe Pye fondle it as he will.”
