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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
Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—Transformations on Mars:
One of the ways that life on Mars impacts the Bittering family (and the other humans from Earth who helped start their settlement) is that it changes the shape and color of their bodies. In the following passage, Bradbury uses a simile and imagery to help readers understand the kind of transformations humans go through on Mars:
Lying abed, Mr. Bittering felt his bones shifted, shaped, melted like gold. His wife, lying beside him, was dark from many sunny afternoons. Dark she was, and golden-eyed, burnt almost black by the sun, sleeping, and the children metallic in their beds, and the wind roaring forlorn and changing through the old peach trees, the violet grass, shaking out green rose petals.
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Explanation and Analysis—Arriving on Mars:
Near the beginning of the story, after the Bitterings have just arrived on Mars, Bradbury uses imagery and a metaphor to capture the family’s apprehension about their situation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The children with their yellow hair hollered at the deep dome of Martian sky. There was no answer but the racing hiss of wind through the stiff grass.
He picked up the luggage in his cold hands. “Here we go,” he said— a man standing on the edge of a sea, ready to wade in and be drowned.
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Explanation and Analysis—Harry’s Fear:
After learning about the atomic bomb that hit New York and destroyed all of the rockets capable of traveling to Mars, Harry becomes very afraid. Bradbury uses imagery in this moment to capture Harry’s fear, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Alone, thought Bittering. Only a thousand of us here. No way back. No way. No way. Sweat poured from his face and his hands and his body; he was drenched in the hotness of his fear. He wanted to strike Laura, cry, “No, you’re lying! The rockets will come back!” Instead, he stroked Laura’s head against him and said, “The rockets will get through someday.”
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