Imagine watching everyone you love die around you, knowing your turn may come soon. Agatha Christie’s fictional novel Death Comes as the End captured the misery and fear of this situation by relaying the story of Renisenb and her struggle to stay true to her identity. Throughout the story, Christie incorporated imagery, themes, and symbolism in order to enhance the plot.
First, imagery captivates readers by painting images in their minds so they can better imagine the scenes and will have an easier time relating to the story. For example, “[I]t was a cobra. Catching up a heavy staff Sobek attacked it furiously. A well-directed blow broke its back, but Sobek continued to strike it, his head thrown back, his eyes sparkling” (50). This example of imagery appeals to the reader’s sense of sight and adds to the overall experience of the novel by establishing a frightening mood. Moreover, imagery in this situation makes the reader feel as if they are standing next to Sobek, drawing them into the story. Additionally, Christie wrote, “Nofret lay with her face upturned, her body broken and twisted. Her eyes were open and sightless” (75). This shows imagery sparks the reader’s imagination and prompts them to visualize being in Renisenb’s shoes, staring at the dead body of a beautiful concubine. Likewise, this horrific scene stimulates varying emotional responses from the reader, ensuring they are a part of the story. In summation, imagery increases reader’s interest in the
She uses word choice such as “screaming around the track side by side…”(145). She uses imagery and synesthesia to allow the reader to use sight and hearing to understand. Hillenbrand also used imagery to tell the reader about Seabiscuit's big victory and the pride his team carried(324). The reader also gets the chance to imagine “Red Pollard watch the sky darken” whilst in the hospital. Hillenbrand's use of imagery allows the reader to become part of the story rather than just reading it.
Imagery enhances the story by describing the setting and feelings of Erik’s when he was under fear. Imagery conveys the theme of fear by helping the reader picture the moment in his or her head. All in all, in the novel Tangerine, Edward Bloor uses the technique of imagery to show the theme of
First and foremost, Willa Cather and Mary Austin both employ beautiful imagery in their writings to recreate the landscape of the story they are telling, which heightens the understanding and appreciation for their writings. Their use of imagery is specific to appealing to their audience’s visual senses. In My Antonia, for example, Willa Cather describes the landscape at a particular moment by saying, “One afternoon we were having our reading lessons on the warm, grassy bank where the badger lived. It was a day of amber sunlight, but there was a shiver of coming winter in the air. I had seen ice on the little horsepond that morning, and as we went through the garden we found tall asparagus, with its red berries, lying on the ground, a mass of slimy green” (Cather 29). My Antonia has these descriptive passages throughout it, which enables the reader to feel part of the book. Likewise, Mary Austin’s The Land of Little Rain also utilizes imagery: Mary Austin says, “the mountains are steep and the rains are heavy, the pool is
Visualizing the scene of this tragedy proved to be an effect strategy Beller used to illustrate his tone. The visualizations the author provides generates the specific ideas Beller wants his readers to recognize: “The whole street paused, froze, screamed, and some people broke into tears, many people brought their hands up to their mouths, everyone was momentarily frozen, except for the ashen guy, who just kept walking¨ (Beller, 62). This perception of the crowd creates an image in readers minds. With that image accepted, readers can more fully grasp Bellerś chaotic tone.
O’Brien uses imagery to enhance the story. Several examples of imagery are found in the chapter. One example is “To the north and west the country rose up in thick walls of wilderness, triple-canopied jungle, mountains unfolding into higher mountain…” (87). This quote gives the reader a vivid image of Vietnam and it’s natural beauty. Another example is “ The place was never mortared, never taken under fire…” (88) in which describes the military compound. O’Brien also uses imagery to describe looks and expressions of characters. An example of this is “Even with the cooling night air Fossie’s face was slick with sweat. He looked sick. His eyes were blood shot…” (103).
Vivid images can be found abundantly throughout the novel and helps to portray scenes to the point where the audience can actually imagine, smell, touch, and hear everything that is going on. “No matter how they scrubbed their hands, the residue of Red Hot Mama had a way of sticking round, as pesty and persistent as a chaperone at a high school dance.” (158). In some instances the audience can acquire a sense, based on the description whether the characters are self absorbed, considerate, or overly concerned about their appearance. “I ought to be shot for looking like this” she’d tell the mirror in the front hall before going out the door. “I look like I’ve been drug through hell backwards,” she would say on and ordinary day. “Like death warmed over. Like something the cat puked up.” (103). The emergence of the images presented in the novel can help present a better understanding and in some cases, a connection to one of the
An example of imagery as the most prominent literary element in this story, is when the barber describes what it would be like to slice open the captain’s neck, how the blood would gush out and get on everything (Tellez 21). This one example of imagery offers the readers an opportunity to visualize the scene if he were to slash the captain’s neck. The barber even thinks to himself, “The skin would give way like silk, like rubber, like the strop” (Tellez 22). Another example of imagery Tellez uses to create a visual effect in “Just Lather, That’s All”, is when he describes the way the captain’s beard makes him look. “And the beard, which made him seem a bit older than he was, didn’t suit him badly at all” (Tellez 10).
We often rely on imagery, a literary device that uses vivid descriptions and appeals to the senses, in our storytelling to point out the important facts in our stories. It helps our audience picture the scene and understand the severity of the situation. In my opinion, a well-written scene can be incredibly meaningful and thought-provoking with the help of imagery, sometimes even more so than a photograph. In literature, this is no different. Authors will describe characters and events in great detail when they feel it is important to the story. They will use imagery to point out character traits, themes, symbols, and motifs. A good author paints you a picture so you can imagine the places, colors, expressions, textures, with all the fine details.
Many quotes of the book that display imagery, also support and create the mood of the book or story. One example is, “three dusty windows barred with iron” (pg 75). The word “dusty”, probably means the windows are old, which in my opinion feeds into the mysterious mood. Another example is, “The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight, although the
In writing, an author should be mindful of what they are trying to accomplish with what they are describing. Stockett is able to accomplish this when she uses imagery thoughtfully. “In the lounge, the air seems to still. Husbands drinking their whiskeys stop in mid-sip, spotting this pink thing at the door. It takes a second for the image to register. They stare, but don’t see, not yet. But as it turns real—real skin, real cleavage, perhaps not-so-real blond hair—their faces slowly light up. They all seem to be thinking the same thing—Finally... But then, feeling the fingernails of their wives, also starring, digging into their arms, their foreheads wrinkle. Their eyes hint remorse, as marriages are scorned (she never lets me do anything fun), youth is remembered (why didn’t I go to California that summer?), first loves are recalled (Roxanne . . .). All of this happens in a span of about five seconds and then it is over and they are left just staring” (321). Imagery provides a way for a character and conflict to develop. Also, since imagery provides a way for the reader to immerse themselves in a story, it is considered a defining part of what makes a good
Without imagery in “The Most Dangerous Game,” the setting wouldn’t be nearly as powerful. The imagery allows readers to better understand how difficult it is for Rainsford to navigate the terrain. At the beginning of the story, the narrator uses imagery to describe the island: “dense jungle came down to the very edge of the cliffs. What perils that tangle of trees and underbrush might hold for him did not concern Rainsford just Then” (Connell). The imagery is very effective in this scene because the narrator uses words such as “dense” and “tangle,” which clearly illustrate how hard it is to navigate the terrain. The imagery also allows readers to picture General Zaroff’s mansion. The narrator describes what Rainsford sees when he comes across the mansion: “but as he forged along he saw to his great astonishment that all the lights were in one enormous building--a lofty structure with pointed towers plunging upward into the gloom. His eyes made out the shadowy outlines of a palatial chateau; it was set on a high bluff, and on three sides of it cliffs dived down to where the sea licked greedy lips in the shadows” (Connell). By using words such as “lofty” and “enormous,” readers are better able to picture what the mansion looks like. Therefore, imagery is one of the reasons why “The Most Dangerous Game” is a successful short story because it enables readers to picture the setting, which is very important to the plot.
Visual imagery is often the first step to subconsciously sending the reader into a parallel state of mind as the protagonist, and letting them experience what the characters experienced throughout the story. The visuals used in the beginning of this story convince readers that they have been placed in a safe, secure environment, therefore having a positive effect on readers when they
The author uses imagery to interest the reader in her story that may seem mundane without the imagery. An example of this happening is when Jeannette is going to her new school in Welch it was her first day and the teacher picks on her because she did not have to give the school her records to her not having them as that is happening a tall girl stabs her out of nowhere“I felt something sharp and painful between my shoulder blades and turned around. The tall black girl with the almond eyes was sitting at the desk behind me.
In the book code name verity Elizabeth Wein uses terrifying imagery followed by unthinkable details to bring out a tone of suspense. The imagery helps by painting a picture in the readers head to get them to understand it more easily. The imagery helps to understand the tone of suspense by talking about the torture that Julie goes through and how they don’t know what will happen next.
Another example of imagery in the story is when the author used it to describe Emily when she ask for poison to the druggist.“still a slight woman, though thinner than usual, with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eyes ockets as you imagine a lighthouse-keepers face ought to look”. The author makes emphasis in Emily’s face and eyes meaning that she is lost in her own world and foreshadows that Emily would use the poison for something wrong.