Sledgehammer Metaphor
Confucius is quoted in the book, in his observation that you cannot beat a sculpture from a stone with a sledgehammer. This is a metaphor for the war; nothing beautiful comes from violence. Violence alters things for the worse, not for the better, and by beating hard at a stone with a sledgehammer, a man is not going to produce a thing of beauty. The metaphor tells us that extreme force is not always the answer when diplomacy may be far more effective.
Bad Water Metaphor
Skip states that the thirst for freedom has caused America to drink bad water; this is a metaphor for the allegiances he has been forced to make and the deals he has had to do with people who are criminal, or evil, in the name of freedom. The country wants a victory at all costs, but this has made it impossible to do anything with integrity.
Gauze Simile
"Experience seemed like the thinnest of gauze" is a simile that explains the transience of memories, and the way in which they seem to grow more and more feint even at a time when being able to see them them clearly is most important.
Poison Simile
Houston claims that the world spits out a man as if he were poison; this means that the world is done with a person very quickly, anxious to get poison out of its mouth in case it is harmful. A man's downfall is quick and almost imperceptible but done with enormous force. It is a simile intended to show that the world they are living in is cruel and harsh.
Moths Simile
The moths in front of Skip hurl themselves at the lamp like people wanting to kill themselves. This simile conjures up the urgency of the suicidal around him and also the way in which the moths seem hell bent on killing themselves against the glass.
