Why I Love a Good Metaphor

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I'm reading Margo's Got Money Trouble, and she has some fantastic metaphors. They make me envious, obviously, but also they got me thinking about why I love a good metaphor.

A good metaphor distills what I love about books. It lets me see the world, for a moment, from someone else's perspective. Not just to see what they do, but to see how they see the world, how they feel. The last good metaphor I marked was "The walls were painted teal and had the texture of psoriasis." Which does several things.

First, it lets me really see the walls in question. Second, it lets me feel the reluctance the character feels about this house (and its owner) without overstating it. Does she feel disgust or pity or familiarity? It's unclear, and it lets me chime in with whatever feelings I have about psoriasis without judgment.

I love seeing things from a different perspective. That moment of "ooh, I never thought about it that way" is why I read. Rufi Thorpe does it both with her metaphors and with the whole book.