Is there such a thing as a "cinematographic metaphor" in novels?
What I mean by "cinematographic metaphor" is that, instead of expressing metaphors using words, you use images that are imprinted in your mind through descriptions in a novel.
Here's what I mean:
We often say that vengeance is an empty thing. So we could have a scene describing someone drinking alcohol from a glass and drinking it all, and show that the glass is left empty like the person who consummated the vengeance. Is this a thing?
Here's what it could look like:
Matthew sat alone in the room. It was midnight. He grabbed a glass of vodka. The ice had long melted away. He drank it all, and pounded the glass onto his desk. The glass, now empty, was sitting in the middle of the desk. The upper part was now broken and reflected his twisted visage.
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1 answer
Yes. Evoking visuals as metaphors in a way that leaves out verbal explanations of meaning is part and parcel of many (if not most) novels.
Your example doesn't quite do this as you state, since it tells the reader what to think vs simply using the empty glass as a metaphor for the character's state of mind. I might change it to:
It was midnight. Matthew sat alone. The ice in his glass of vodka had long melted away. He gulped it and pounded the glass onto his desk. He let his breath out all at once and leaned back in his chair, staring at the glass in the middle of the desk, now empty and broken.
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