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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
Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—Aggressively Alive:
In a description of the final time Booker saw his brother Adam, the narrative uses visual imagery and personification:
The last time Booker saw Adam he was skateboarding down the sidewalk in twilight, his yellow T-shirt fluorescent under the Northern Ash trees. It was early September and nothing anywhere had died. Maple leaves behaved as though their green was immortal. Ash trees were still climbing toward a cloudless sky. The sun began turning aggressively alive in the process of setting. Down the sidewalk between hedges and towering trees Adam floated, a spot of gold moving down a shadowy tunnel toward the mouth of a living sun.
This passage begins with stark visual imagery that brings the scene to life, as Adam's "yellow T-shirt" is "fluorescent" in the twilight. The strong imagery in this moment illustrates the extent to which this memory is etched into Booker's memory. Furthermore, the passage uses personification to bring the trees and sunlight to life—maple leaves “behave[]” like their leaves are immortal, ash trees have the agency to "climb[]", and the sun is "aggressively alive." In this memory, then, nature isn't just a backdrop—it's living and thriving. And this, in turn, brings Booker's memory to life for readers, making the loss of his brother all the more palpable and painful.
Related Themes:
Part 4, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Let it Blaze:
When Bride reads Booker’s letters at Queen’s house, Booker uses imagery and a metaphor:
You should take heartbreak of whatever kind seriously with the courage to let it blaze and burn like the pulsing star it is unable or unwilling to be soothed into pathetic self-blame because its explosive brilliance rings justifiably loud like the din of tympani.
The sentence uses a double metaphor—cosmic light and orchestral sound—to present heartbreak as an energy that deserves to be celebrated rather than diminished. When Booker suggests that heartbreak should "blaze and burn like the pulsing star," he presents grief or struggle not as a wound but as something temperamental and intense. The word "pulsing" specifically suggests periodic intensification, which acknowledges that heartbreak can be a bit unpredictable—it can flare, subside, and then flare again.
Toward the end of the passage, the sentence focuses on auditory imagery, as Booker talks about the "explosive brilliance" of heartbreak sounding out "like the din of tympani." This underscores the intensity of certain kinds of struggle or hardship, though Booker once again evokes this intensity in a celebratory way. On the whole, the metaphorical and sensory language in this passage invite Bride to embrace messy, difficult feelings—something she hasn't been all that interested in doing throughout her life.
Related Themes:
