Real-life analogies for pointers are abundant. We'll explore two analogies to help provide some clarity about them.
In our first analogy, John, Mary, Tom, and Sally each own a different thing that they will give to us when we ask them for it. John owns a book, Mary owns a cat, Tom owns a song, and Sally owns a bicycle. If you want, say, a song, you ask Tom. If you want a bicycle, you ask Sally. If we want something, we godirectlyto the owner of it. That is direct addressing.
Now, say we don't know who each of them is or what they own. Instead, there is someone else we know, say, Sophia, who knows each person and what they own. To get something that we want, we have to go to Sophia, who then goes to the proper person, gets what they own, and gives it to us. Now, to get a book, we go to Sophia, who then goes to John to get the book and gives it to us. To get a cat, we again go to Sophia, who then goes to Mary to...