Metaphors Part 1

There are many benefits and uses of metaphors, that much is obvious, but are there any true consequences or downfalls of using metaphors? I think that a lot of the 'problems' people identify with metaphors aren't really problems at all. For instance, someone might suggest that not all metaphors translate very well. What we mean in English by saying “opening a can of worms” may not mean the same thing in Chinese, for example, but that little misunderstanding can be explained easily enough so that I don’t think that’s an actual problem. The ambiguity of metaphors, someone might say, could also be a problem. Take “Richard is a lion”, for example. I don’t think any literary work would simply say that sentence as it. The context of the literary work would explain that Richard is brave, like a lion, but is not a lion himself. Context usually helps to clear up ambiguity in literature, so I don’t think that’s a problem either. Literal vs. figurative meaning in literature may be a problem for some at first, but a conversation over the metaphor in question would solve that problem immediately. And what about metaphors having a specific hidden meaning? Well, that just means that you have to think about the metaphor a little harder and a little longer. As far as I am concerned, there really are no consequences to metaphors, only benefits. They help the reader to see something old as new, to see things in a new light. Something that you may have always known was true in the back of your mind may suddenly make itself more clear with the help of metaphors. They are extraordinary tools used to look at the world through a different lens than the one you’ve been using. They may even be essential to literature.