Question

"you're disarmed by a shard of knowing."

what kind of language technique is this a metaphor or something else?

Answer 1

Jasper is seen as being a negative influence by the community, and as a result, many consider him a villain. When their children misbehave, the parents of Corrigan will often use Jasper as a negative example and tell their children that if they are disobedient, they will end up just like him. By doing this, they encourage their children to develop the same type of mentality as their parents and to manifest prejudice against a person they barely know and understand. Charlie seems to note a strong community-wide pressure to conform to a certain set of pre-approved behaviors.