What metaphors are used in Less than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis?

Clay's poster serves multiple symbolic and metaphoric functions within the novel. On the most basic level, it is a "promotional poster", a piece of marketing ephemera that has been elevated to the status of art. In essence, Clay is decorating his life with advertising a literalization of the media intensive atmosphere in which he moves. At the same time, the image shapes his actions and desires, forcing him to reorganize his placement within its field of vision in order to be seen. His uneasy positioning, repositioning, and self-abasement before the wry irony of the image thus acts as a powerful metaphor for his antagonistic and desiring relationship with the image driven world of wealthy Los Angeles.