What is an example of symbolism in this narrative?

The image of Tom clinging to the side of the high-rise building in Manhattan symbolizes Manhattan itself. It is full of talented and ambitious young men and women who are trying, figuratively speaking, to climb to the tops of all those tall buildings. The story makes it seem that everybody in Manhattan is a little bit crazy. That is to say, where else but in Manhattan would a young man pull such a crazy stunt as Tom Benecke does when he climbs out of his eleventh-floor window onto a ledge that is not even as wide as the length of his shoe? The setting of the story in Manhattan overlooking Lexington Avenue contributes to the verisimilitude of the story.