What makes an individual metaphor a good illustration of a complex idea as opposed to a "bad" metaphor that doesn't do the job of painting a picture with alternate words?
Answer
Well, first off, it should be a metaphor, not a simile. :) Ahem...
A great metaphor recasts the familiar or mundane as something strikingly different yet truly parallel. It gives a startlingly vivid picture or brings a surprising insight. A bad metaphor fails to achieve the parallel, or the fresh insight, or both. The element of surprise is an important part of a great metaphor. If we saw it coming from a paragraph away, it is far less effective; a metaphor can be bad merely because it is a cliche.
Some personal favorites:
"The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees/The moon was a ghostly galleon, tossed upon cloudy seas" (Noyes)
"The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes" (T.S. Eliot)
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage" (Shakespeare)
"Out of the mocking bird's throat, the musical shuttle/Out of the Ninth-month midnight" (Whitman)
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