After doing a close reading, why should you analyze the figurative language in a text

Close reading means reading and analyzing a small piece of text closely. Close reading is the best way to at least partially master a text before you begin to think more largely about it. The notion of a text gives a vital sense of life to the object of inquiry, a life that can stand apart from its author. Sometimes writer use not litaral language, he uses words or expressions that are different from the literal interpretation and to understand them we have to analyze the figurative language in a text (examine text for images and imagery, look for similes,metaphors, symbols etc).