One of the sentences in which the author uses figurative language is the idea of a "broken accordion" The author is trying to tell us that all of a sudden, his whole world was turned upside down. His mother and father had changed roles, and everything felt strange.
The author compares this feeling of oddity with the idea of a broken musical instrument, which leads him to say that the world was "out of tune." This comparison is useful because an instrument that works produces beautiful music, while a broken one only produces sad and confusing noise.
