cited from James Paul Gee, An Introduction to Human Language, pp. 292-3

A serious novel about the destruction of the U.S. and the end of the world should perform the function of prophecy in reverse. The novelist writes about the coming end in order PRO to warn about present ills and so avert the end. Not PRO being called by God PRO to be a prophet, he nevertheless pretends to a certain prescience. If he did not think he saw something other people didn't see t or at least didn't pay much attention to, t he would be wasting his time PRO writing and they PRO reading. This does not mean that he is wiser than they. Rather might it testify to a species of affliction which t sets him apart and gives him an odd point of view. simile The wounded man has a better view of the battle than those still shooting. antithesis simile The novelist is less like a prophet than he is like the canary that coal miners used to take t down into the shaft PRO to test the air. When the canary gets unhappy, utters plaintive cries, and collapses, it may be time for the miners PRO to surface and think things over.