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Idioms
Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—Robert’s Appearance:
When describing his experience of meeting Robert (his wife’s blind friend) for the first time, the narrator uses imagery and a simile, as seen in the following passage:
I’ve never met or personally known anyone who was blind. This blind man was late forties, a heavyset, balding man with stooped shoulders, as if he carried a great weight there. He wore brown slacks, brown cordovan shoes, a light-brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat. Spiffy. He also had this full beard. But he didn’t carry a cane and he didn’t wear dark glasses. I’d always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind.
The narrator uses visual imagery here when describing how Robert is “a heavyset, balding man with stooped shoulders” who is wearing “brown slacks, brown cordovan shoes, a light-brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat.” He also notes how Robert has a “full beard” and does not have a cane or dark glasses. All of these visual details help readers to mentally picture the man, bringing them closer into the scene. The narrator also uses a simile when noting that it looked “as if [Robert] carried a great weight” on his shoulders. This helps readers both picture the way Robert carries himself and also understand that Robert, who has just lost his wife, is feeling the emotional weight of that loss.
The imagery here is significant as it paints a full portrait of Robert as a person and contradicts stereotypes that the narrator (and possibly readers) hold about what blind people look like. The narrator seems to be surprised at how “spiffy” and color-coordinated Robert is, likely due to his belief that blind people—not being able to see—do not care how they present themselves. He is also surprised by Robert’s lack of cane and dark glasses, perhaps a result of only having been exposed to representations of blind people in movies and other forms of media. Here Robert challenges the narrator’s expectations of him, something he will continue to do throughout the story.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Tape:
In the backstory that the narrator shares at the beginning of “Cathedral,” readers learn that the narrator’s wife has been corresponding with her blind friend Robert via cassette tape for over 10 years. At some point in the past, she asked the narrator to listen to one of the tapes. The narrator recalls this scene, using imagery in the process:
First she inserted the tape into the player and adjusted a couple of dials. Then she pushed a lever. The tape squeaked and someone began to talk in this loud voice. She lowered the volume. After a few minutes of harmless chitchat, I heard my own name rasped out by this stranger, this man I didn’t even know! And then this: “From all you’ve said about him, I can only conclude—” But we were interrupted, a knock at the door, something, and we didn’t get back to the tape. Maybe it was just as well. I’d heard enough, anyway.
The narrator uses auditory imagery when describing how “[t]he tape squeaked and someone began to talk in this loud voice,” how Robert “rasp[s]” the narrator’s name in the recording, and how someone interrupts the listening session with “a knock at the door.” All of these details help readers to hear the scene alongside the narrator. The descriptions of the narrator’s wife interacting with the dials and levers of the tape player are also subtle examples of visual imagery as they encourage readers to mentally picture the specifics of the scene.
The imagery here is significant as it captures the narrator’s discomfort with this experience. Sounds like “squeaking,” “rasping,” and “knocking” are all negatively coded and communicate that this was a jarring experience for the man. This is likely because the narrator is envious of Robert’s easy intimacy with his wife when he, her husband, struggles to connect with her.
Related Themes:
