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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
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Tom Hamilton:
In Chapter 5, Steinbeck describes each of the Hamilton children, characterizing each of them and highlighting what makes them unique from one another. Tom Hamilton's introduction is one of the most interesting: he is an unconventional child and abhors the rules and restrictions placed on him by society. Steinbeck uses imagery and simile in the following passage to achieve Tom's characterization:
[Tom] was born in fury and he lived in lightning . . . . He lived in a world shining and fresh and as uninspected as Eden on the sixth day. His mind plunged like a colt in a happy pasture, and when later the world put up fences he plunged against the wire, and when the final stockade surrounded him, he plunged right through it and out.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Cathy and Gender:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 8, the narrator dwells on Cathy's appearance, giving one of the first visual descriptions readers receive of her as a younger child. Through both imagery and simile, Steinbeck paints a picture of Cathy's visage intended to unsettle readers:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As though nature concealed a trap, Cathy had from the first a face of innocence. . . . Her body was a boy's body, narrow-hipped, straight-legged, but her ankles were thin and straight without being slender. Her feet were small and round and stubby, with fat insteps almost like hooves.
Related Themes:
Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Fear and Love:
In a fit of anger at being manipulated, Mr. Edwards takes Cathy into the countryside in Chapter 9 with the intent to harm her. Once they arrive, this initial formless sentiment hardens and coalesces into something more sinister: homicide. The narrator describes Mr. Edwards's emotions as he attempts to murder Cathy:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[Mr. Edwards's] chest and stomach turned to molten metal and a redness glowed in his head behind his eyes. There was real fear mixed up in his love, and the precipitate from the mixing of these two is cruelty.
Related Themes:
