Imagery In Blood Meridian

“Owls” by Mary Oliver is a complex and imaginative view of nature and an analysis of its beauty and, at the same time, frightening aspects through the lens of Oliver. Throughout her story, Oliver explores the paradoxical anomalies of nature: the beauty contrasted with the fear as well as the complexity contrasted with simplicity. Using sensory language, parallel structure, and alliteration, Oliver establishes her awe-struck yet cautious view of nature as a paradoxical masterpiece.

In Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy describes a lawless and godless group of men ordained to cleanse the West of lesser people. This group wanders through the West leaving a trail of slaughtered people in their trail. The emptiness and ruthlessness of their hearts is reflected in the harsh and unforgiving landscape. McCarthy uses reoccurring themes of war, religion, and dance to paint a graphic picture of the savageness of life in the West.

dramatic and forceful is the fact that it is a spiritual presence, one which we

Parallels are drawn between the protagonist, Robert Ross, and many of the animals that appear throughout the novel. Robert appears to have a strong kinship with his animal counterparts. After enlisting in the army, Robert takes a run out on the prairie, where he encounters a coyote. He instinctively begins to follow the creature, and it leads him to a valley where it stops to drink at a small pond. As it drinks, "the sound . . . [crosses] the distance between them and . . . [seems] to satisfy his own thirst" (The Wars 28). Before the coyote leaves, it turns and "[looks] directly at him . . . and [barks] . . .The coyote had known he was there the whole time: maybe the whole of the run across the prairie. Now it was telling Robert that the valley was vacant: safe-and Robert could proceed to the water's edge and drink" (28). Later that night, as he sits alone, Robert finds himself "wishing that someone would howl" (28). Robert also seems to have a special bond with birds, which often appear in the novel, frequently at times of crisis for Robert. After unwittingly leading his men through the fog onto a collapsing dike, the air is suddenly "filled with the shock waves of wings . . . [and] the sound of their motion [sends] a shiver down Robert's back" (81). Subsequently, Robert steps into the sinking mud and is nearly sucked down to his death beneath the earth. Later in the novel, Robert again encounters a bird, and it is at the same

Truly successful authors have the ability to convey their view of a place without actually saying it, to portray a landscape in a certain light simply by describing it. In the opening paragraphs of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote does just this. Through his use of stylistic elements such as selection of detail, imagery, and figurative language, Capote reveals his own solemn and mysterious view of Holcomb, Kansas, while setting the stage for an imminent change.

The day-long hunt is described vividly by the author; the deer flee in fear, "dashing through the dale, dazed with dread." The hunters shoot their arrows that "tore the tawny hide with their tapered heads." Hunting horns "like the cracking of cliffs their cries resounded," the horns making a loud sharp noise that explode. The day goes well and ends with the setting of the sun. This ends this segment of the hunt.

Many times throughout one of Ken Kesey’s most famous novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the book uses animals as symbols to represent the story’s plot. The animals usually relate to individual characters and their current struggles within the story. Animal imagery provides us with great insight to the themes that Kesey is trying to have us explore, and is a very good tool that the reader can use to help better understand and relate to the characters.

“My Favorite Chaperone” by Jean Davies Okimoto and The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang both incorporate the use of figurative language. Figurative language helps to create a visual image in the reader’s mind. Authors also incorporate figurative language in order to enhance and explain a variety of literary elements throughout a piece of literature. For instance, in “My Favorite Chaperone,” Okimoto is conveying a sense of change through overcoming obstacles. While overcoming these obstacles, fear was always evident through Maya’s actions.

The poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver connects the both the natural and human world as it compares human life to the travels of wild geese. Touching on the landscapes of the natural world and emotions faced by the average person; Oliver manages to use devices such as tone, metaphors and descriptive images to convey a message that helps a person view life from a different perspective. Oliver makes it clear that the relationship between the wild and the human is coexistence; where one universe continues on if the parallel seems to have stopped. Thus, Oliver is able to move the reader on a comforting journey as she entangles the natural world and human world, showing that the natural world has more

London’s novella Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck’s transformation from a domesticated pet on a vast Santa Clara Valley estate to the primal beast he becomes in the bitter regions of the Klondike wilderness. London delivers Buck’s journey in several key plot events and uses various settings and narration styles to tell the story in a way that allows a reader to easily become invested in Buck’s character and well-being from the viewpoint of a loyal and lovable pet, as well as, that of a creature returning to its primal roots and ancestry. Settings in Call of the Wild consist of generally harsh and vicious locations, situations previously unknown to Buck, and various hostile persons and dogs. As well as a variety of settings, London

Death is a promise by God that we as humans still have not found the courage to accept nor comprehend. Good or bad. Old or young. God has promised us all an eternal resting place in heaven or hell, or even in someone. Where we can live through their thoughts and imagination, get a second chance at life through them. Throughout Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya we see how the dead linger and live in Antonio, unfolding their souls in his inquisitive mind and hand him the bricks to make them a home of his religious ambivalence.

“There was the honest cock robin, the favorite game of the stripling sportsmen, with its loud querulous note; and the twittering blackbirds flying in the sable clouds; and the golden-winged woodpecker with his crimson crest, his broad black gorget, and splendid plumage; and the cedar bird, with its red-tipt wings and yellow-tipt tail and its little monteiro cap of feathers; and the blue jay, that noisy coxcomb, in his gay light blue coat and white underclothes, screaming and chattering, nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pretending to be on good terms with every songster of the grove” (11). The very vivid descriptions of the birds, people, and nature gave a more creeped out feeling than

'The Wind in the Willows' uses the technique of anthropomorphism. This feature is visually appealing to the audience as the animals seem less threatening and it sends the reader into a fantasy world full of magical and adventurous thoughts. The audience can effectively engage with the human traits shown by the

     The theme of death is present in many works of literature. It is given metaphors and cloaked with different meanings, yet it always represents an end. Every end signifies a new beginning, and every death gives rise to a new birth. Physical death “...is mere transformation, not destruction,” writes Ding Ming-Dao. “What dies is merely the identity, the identification of a collection of parts that we called a person. What dies is only our human meaning” (49). Figuratively speaking, death symbolizes a change, an interruption or cessation of regular routine. In this sense, death can be viewed as a more positive occurrence, because change leads to new experience, which, in turn, leads to knowledge and a better

A chorus of howls echoed maliciously from the tree line. The air was dense with night and the humidity dulled Rainsford’s senses. Wolves, or any other manner of beast could be lurking within the shrubbery, their fangs dripping with blood. He jogged to the nearest tree and shimmied up its thick trunk. A rustle came from his left. “Hoo, Hoo!” Rainsford yelped in surprise as the owl took flight.