How does the author use metaphor in the book, Mason & Dixon?

Pynchon uses unforgettable metaphors and analogies to explain life and the universe. In a headnote from one of his sermons, Cherrycoke compares God to the sun, humans to a planet, and gravity to God's love. Mason's father, the baker, compares the elements of human life to a loaf of bread. Yeast is the spirit, the crust, our skin, and the smooth dough, our body, full of many tiny bubbles that allow us to grow in body and in spirit.