That's One Small Step for Man

In Chapter 8 of Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut develops a cliche about how Dresden had transformed into the moon after the bombing. Vonnegut is able to portray an image of a barren wasteland to the reader where everything that once was there, only used to be there. In the quote, "Dresden was like the moon now, nothing but minerals. The stones were hot. Everybody else in the neighborhood was dead" (178), Vonnegut first introduces his comparison between Dresden and the moon. As a reader, I instantly thought, "Wow" because it made me realize just how severe the damage truly was. Vonnegut is able to transform this experience that few people could relate or connect to into an experience that everyone can connect to. Everyone on Earth can relate to a simile of the moon because everyone on Earth has seen the moon and knows what it looks like. With this first simile, Vonnegut is able to grab the reader's attention and explain symbolically what it was like.
But he wasn't done there.
What makes this simile a cliche are Vonnegut's repetitive references to his original simile of "Dresden was like the moon." For the next few pages, Vonnegut's effort of focusing on his simile becomes cliche, or a dead simile (which isn't technically on the literary terms sheet, but I made it up because it isn't quite a dead metaphor).
For example,

• On page 179, when Billy is describing the bombing of Dresden to Montana Wildhack, he says, "'It was like the moon.'" Vonnegut's first directly refers to the original simile. ("Dresden was like the moon.")
• Later, on the same page and into the next one (180), Vonnegut describes the reaction to the bombing as, "It was realized then that there was no food or water, and that the survivors, if they were going to survive, were going to have to climb over curve after curve on the face of the moon." Here, Vonnegut is describing the rocky surface of the remains of the town. In this way, he is abstractly comparing Dresden to the craters of the moon. This could be seen as an extended or implied metaphor.
• In the next sentence, Vonnegut says, "The curves were smooth only when seen from a distance" (180). Just like, say, the moon, perhaps?
• In the following paragraph, Vonnegut includes two references to the moon with "Nobody talked much as the expedition crossed the moon." (180) and "There were to be no moon men at all" (180). The latter of these references is also an extended/implied metaphor that these survivors are now akin to moon men.

Therefore, Vonnegut's original simile comparing Dresden to the moon has grown tired and cliche. The spontaneity is now gone, and the effect of the initial simile is now ineffective. With Vonnegut's repetetive comparison to the moon, the reader is no longer thinking "Wow" and is now thinking "Okay, I get it. Dresden is the moon. It's been established." Vonnegut's original simile was excellent, but by the end of the chapter, the comparison has been over-emphasized.

King Croesus

In Chapter 3, Vonnegut continues his excellent allusions, anecdotes, diction, etc. On page 61, though, he takes his mastery one step further. He is able to mix an allusion with a simile at the same time. How is this possible? Because he's Vonnegut, that's why.
The quote I'm referring to is found in the middle of page 61, when Vonnegut refers to the rich life of Billy Pilgrim. The quote is, "[Billy] was rich as Croesus, something he had never expected to be, not in a million years." My first reaction after reading this sentence was, "Who is Croesus??? And why did Vonnegut refer to him? That's a nice simile though."
Consequently, I turned to Wikipedia. Wikipedia also describes Croesus' life as a very rich one, lived in extreme luxury as he ruled as King of Lydia of ancient Greece. He is credited with producing the circulation of the first gold coins in history. He is also famous for forming an alliance with Sparta during the Greek struggle against Persian onslaught. (I also learned that his name is not pronounced "crow-sus" and instead "cree-sus". It certainly still looks like Crow-sus to me, so that's what I'll call him from now on.)
Obviously, Vonnegut had a purpose in naming Crow-sus while describing Pilgrim's optometric riches. Netting $60 grand a year must have something to do with it. He also owned a share of a Holiday Inn and 3 Tastee-Freeze stands. But how is that comprable to a King of Lydia? The answer is that it's just a simile, so it doesn't have to be entirely accurate, but make a point that, in this case, Billy is much richer than he ever imagined an optometrist could be. Billy is living a life of luxury, and he is similar to Crow-sus because they both exceeded the typical living standards of other people in their respective cities and times.
So, with Vonnegut's epic allusion/simile combo of referencing Crow-sus, he is able to enthrall the reader with a connection to the ancient past. He also gives further explanation to just how extremely luxurious Billy's life was becoming.