Crazy Benedict
From an early age, Benedict Arnold developed a reputation as a bit of a loose cannon. This reputation would follow him into battle. "An American officer named Alexander Scammell described what happened next: Arnold rushed into the thickest of the fight with his usual recklessness, and at times acted like a madman." The novel posits the possibility that it was precisely Arnold's penchant for acting impulsively and with wild abandon that led to his future troubles. Impulsivity is often confused with a deficiency of sanity.
Demons
At one point, Arnold is facing a trial which he deems a fate worse than death. The narrator describes this strange ambiguity with a simile. "It was almost as though Arnold was wrestling with some demon, some dreadful decision." The comparison to wrestling with demons refers to the narrator's judgment that there was actually some mystery issue that was really troubling the defendant. In this case, the demon is a metaphorical representation of ambiguity.
Benedict Defined
Benedict Arnold is defined fairly early in the narrative as a Type A personality with a reckless hunger for attention and excitement. "These traits made an explosive mix, more than enough fuel to power a dazzling rise and spectacular crash." This metaphorical imagery efficiently conveys the kinetic personality of the title character. Appearing so early in the narrative, the figurative language also effectively works as foreshadowing.
The Gamble
The Battle of Valcour Island provides Arnold with the chance to make his real dramatic mark in the Revolutionary War. "Standing on the deck of the Congress at 10:00 a.m., Arnold saw that he had won his first roll of the dice." The Congress in this instance refers not to the legislature but is instead of the name of a ship. The reference to a roll of dice is a metaphor for taking a big gamble. The gamble which Arnold bet everything he had was that the British ships on Lake Champlain would sail right past the American fleet without seeing them until it was too late. He was right and the gamble paid off.
Traitor
Ultimately, of course, the rationale for the title of this book is that Benedict Arnold became the most notorious agent of treason in American history until Jan. 6, 2021. Once the full extent of his treason became public, he forever became associated with absolute evil. "At the back of the general...was a figure of the Devil, dressed in black robes, shaking a purse of money at the general's left ear, and in his right hand a pitchfork, ready to drive him into hell." This is a description of a float parading through the streets of Philadelphia. The imagery constructs a widespread metaphorical view of Arnold as a Faustian figure making a deal with the devil to sell his soul. Within this symbolism lies a metaphor within the metaphor as soul Arnold was attempting to sell can be read as a metaphor for American independence. The message of the scene is that Arnold was willing to sell the freedom of a nation in exchange for his own selfish interests.
