The Secret Sauce
Senator Thurman offers sage political advice couched in metaphor. "Denial is the secret sauce in this town." What he means by this is that the secret to success in politics is to deny both the truth and the lies. Doing this serves to confuse the public who become incapable of determining for themselves what is actually true. The secret sauce is that when everything is denied, all trust in the government is undermined, which gives the corrupt free rein to become even more corrupt.
Darkness
Darkness is one of the most flexible and useful metaphors of the modern age. Its symbolic meaning can be stretched to cover a variety of connotations. "She knew a darkness was brewing beneath her feet, and here was her chance to destroy it." In this example, darkness is a metaphor used to convey the idea of something sinister but vague. The potential menace is not entirely precise, however. This is the power of the fluidity of darkness as a metaphor. It can essentially mean just about anything the reader wants to read into the context surrounding it.
Doctors
"The doctor turned to Troy as if he were a stain that needed scrubbing away" utilizes metaphor in a way almost impossible not to understand. This usage may be a commentary on the bedside manner of many doctors in the real world. At the very least, it is a simile that underscores a not uncommon complaint that physicians view themselves in godlike ways that view all patients as inherently inferior. The chasm between a doctor and a stain could not be clearer.
The Big Picture
A conversation uses a simile to succinctly encapsulate the difference between a big-picture outlook and a hyperfocus on details. "You know, it feels like the rest of us are building a nice big house over here, and you’re over in a corner stressing about where you’re gonna hang the fire extinguisher." Like that between a doctor and a stain, the difference between the grander vision of building a house and the choice of where one small item should be stored is immediately clear. The big picture person also seems to suffer from a superiority that views non-conformity as inferior actions.
Routine
Perhaps the most memorable use of metaphor in the entire book sums up the cognitive threat posed by unwanted routine. "It was the castration of thought." This simple declarative definition is then expanded upon and delineated with language alluding to clock watchers grinding out the day at work. This follow-up is not necessary at all. The metaphor says everything about the mind-numbing routine that needs to be stated. It is as precise as metaphor ever gets.
