A Boy and His Gun
Almost everyone already knows the horrendously sad way that this book comes to an end. It involves a boy with a rifle. And the imagery of the boy and his gun begins early and permeates deeply. Metaphor is heavily used to lend resonance to these scenes which is intended to linger in the mind:
“Where the doe had come from and how she ever got so close without my seeing her, I don’t know. It was like she’d suddenly lit down out of the air like a buzzard or risen right up out of the bare ground around the rocks."
Self-Spoiler
The author himself spoils that tragic ending of the novel just two paragraphs in. It is an ending which has no need for shock value to make it powerful and dramatic. The metaphor in this spoiler gives everything away from the start:
“He made me so mad at first that I wanted to kill him. Then, later, when I had to kill him, it was like having to shoot some of my own folks.”
Animal Metaphor
Much of the metaphorical imagery in the book draw comparisons to animals. This is not just because it is a book about a dog. The story is narrated by a young boy. Metaphor requires experience. What does a young kid in the frontier of Texas experience more than the animal word?
“A minute before, I’d been so tired out with my rail splitting that I couldn’t have struck a trot. But now I raced through the tall trees in that creek bottom, covering ground like a scared wolf.”
Cliché
On the other hand, a young boy grows up among jungle of proverbial wisdoms, familiar repetitions of favorite expressions, and cliches. These can come handy when for an inexperienced young imagination trying to convey the abstract:
“The way the late sun slanted through the trees had the trail all cross-banded with streaks of bright light and dark shade. I ran through these bright and dark patches so fast that the changing light nearly blinded me. Then suddenly, I raced out into the open where I could see ahead. And what I saw sent a chill clear through to the marrow of my bones.”
Odd Behavior
Describing odd behavior is one of the ideal purposes for engaging metaphor. Especially the power of comparison afforded by the simile. By describing something which is unfamiliar by comparing it to the actions of something which is more familiar, the inherent obstacle is more easily overcome:
“She’s acting as crazy as if she’d got hold of a bait of pea vine.”
