Figurative Language appears in any type of writing and is used to describe something in order to make a particular insight more clear. Through the use of analogies, similes, metaphors, symbolism, hyperboles, etc, the reader gains a better understanding of what the reader is trying to convey. For instance, a simile is used to directly compare two objects, using like or as. An example of this appears in the book You Shall Know Our Velocity on page 16: “Like a battery is borrowed from a calculator to power a remote control, someone, always, is borrowing my head”. I feel like this is a good example of a simile for this book because not only is it a comparison of how the character thinks, it helps you better understand Will for the remainder of the novel. As you follow Will throughout the story, you find his statement to be true. At times, he begins to pause to think about completely irrelevant situations or objects. It seems as though he is a lunatic with his behaviors and actions, but that is what makes him this character.
Another example is on page 187: “Money is really the only tangible communication device we have”. This could most be conveyed as a metaphor in terms of figurative language. It is comparing money to being a type of tangible communication similar to a phone or radio device. It is saying that money is used to negotiate and transfer goods and services. It does not directly communicate with anything but it is used in order to begin the communication process. Will believes that money isn’t the most important thing in the world. He finds it completely absurd that people revolve their lives around something that he and Hand can willingly give to others. He and Hand both find money as meaningless and that our lives revolve around it because of the government.
