Kingsway the superhero
Kingsway tells us that being wanted made him feel like a superhero:
“To be wanted like that made me feel like a superhero like I could fly or stop bullets with my hands,” he says.
In this passage, he uses the typical imagery of a superhero such as flying or stopping bullets with hands, in order to show how powerful being wanted made him feel.
The cosmic prank
Kingsway describes the success of his life and his fear of it all ending. In the following passage, Kingsway suggests that his success might be a "cosmic prank," revealing the scale of his insecurity and lack of confidence. He also describes his current life as being his "time in the stars," suggesting a sense of elevation but also a dream-like aspect:
“I believed that someday, if—when—the cosmic prank ended and I reclaimed my destiny as a loser, I’d have the pictures to remind me of my time in the stars.”
Limbo imagery
When Elaine is rejected from Stanford for a second time, she feels lost and disoriented: "I didn't belong at Stanford, never did and never would, in limbo, not here or anywhere, not of the present and lacking a future." She uses the imagery of limbo to describe how she doesn't feel attached to any place in particular, and feels like her future is uncertain.
