Metaphorically Literal
Sometimes a metaphor skirts so closely to the literal that it becomes difficult to decide on which side of the border the description fits. Such is the case which comes late enough in the book for readers to determine for themselves whether it should be taken entirely figuratively, literally or a blurred mixture of the two:
“Cartwright’s a monster who spreads misery everywhere he goes, creates it deliberately.”
Creepy Personification
Personification of emotion is one of the really efficient utilizations of metaphor. Transforming an abstraction like emotion by lending it concrete organic action can deepen the emotional depth to a tremendous degree. Especially when the metaphorical imagery is complemented with a literal example. That accomplishment gets particularly unnerving in this perfect example:
“Dread and shame stand at her shoulder, eager to touch her as Ian Cartwright did.”
The Possum
The title marsupial of the book exists both literally and metaphorically, but there is no blurring of indistinction. The possum is situated quite literally as an event in the novel. The other is situated quite metaphorically as a thematic exploration across the length and breadth of the narrative:
“That’s the key. He has to hate this possum as much as he hated the mannequin, he has to turn it into Ian Cartwright.”
Not Just Any Gorilla
Ian Cartwright, creepy monster, receives the benefit of metaphorical language’s ability to make something abstract seem human and something human seem less so. What is interesting about the simile engaged here is not its fundamental originality—the comparison is hardly unique—but the strangely particular little tweak the author decides to give it that alters the meaning ever so slightly:
“`Nobody takes anything from me,’ [Cartwright] repeats, thumping his chest like a Hollywood gorilla.”
Not the Hollywood Kind
The little tweak of the gorilla being maybe not so real and genuine is absent from a later simile making another comparison between Cartwright and an animal. The chest-thumping has about it the air of a has nothing of that about it; it is not a comparison to an animal trained to react on signal, but an animal in the wild acting purely on instinct:
“Cartwright’s arm moves like a cobra until his open hand strings Tim’s chest with as much force as if he’d balled his fist.”
