Metaphoric Commander

   The literary term 'metaphor' serves as an example of Slaughterhouse Five: "The commander's boots were almost the only thing he owned. The boots were his home... 'If you look in them closely, you will find Adam and Eve.'"
   I read the quote and realized its importance the second time seeing it. The German commander's golden boots are his home in a sense that he wears them everywhere he goes. He isn't in his legitiment home, so he acts as if the shoes take its place.
   The commander finds Adam and Eve in his boots because they are like paradise to him. It is said that home is the safest place. Knowing that Adam and Eve were bore from God may allow the German commander to feel safe knowing that he is safe. Vonnegut could have said the commander's boots were like his house and filled with safety. Instead, "the commander's boots were almost the only thing he owned. The boots were his home..." shows how the man was a poor soldier with boots as comforting to him as his home, "'if you look in them closely, you will find Adam and Eve'" indicates that his boots are like paradise to him, like the Garden of Ever was to Adam and Eve.