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K&C Passage

“Like a horse, Sammy had noticed, the Molecule almost never say down. He case any room he entered, pacing first up and down, then back and forth, checking behind the curtains, probing the corner with his gaze or the toe of a shoe, testing out the cushions in the chair or sofa with a  measure bounce, then springing back onto his feet. If compelled to stand in one place for any reason, he would rock back and forth like someone who needed to urinate, worrying the dimes in his pocket. He never slept more than four hours a night, and even then, according to Sammy’s mother, with inquietude, thrashing and gasping and crying out in his sleep. And he seemed incapable of staying in any one place for longer than an hour or two at a time.” (Chabon 100)

How does the imagery/simile and metaphor shape meaning and influence our understanding.

In this description of Sam’s father, Chabon handles all perspectives and perceptions of him perfectly. Addressing positive perceptions and negative perceptions is the key imagery of this passage. Sam's relationship to his father is based around idolizing him and his work, meriting a reason that he leaves them so often and has no relationship with his son. Most of idolizing imagery from Sam's perspective would compare the Molecule to an animal closer to a gazelle, or a comparison of a person dancing as opposed to a person who needed to urinate. Chabon's usage of similes focuses on the exact perfect comparison, although the negative or positive correlation directly affects the reader's perspective, he still chooses the perfect comparison under that delineation. Chabon uses these words to make the reader have as complicated a relationship to Sam's father as Sam has.