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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
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Winter Moon:
While the entirety of No Country for Old Men consists of Llewellyn Moss being placed in discomfiting scenarios, Chapter 1 constitutes the main break between comfortable life and violent, new reality for the Vietnam veteran. McCarthy captures the extremity of this break through the use of sensory imagery and simile, describing the otherworldly displacement Moss feels now that his existence has been shifted on its axis:
When he woke it was 1:06 by the digital clock on the bedside table. He lay there looking at the ceiling, the raw glare of the vaporlamp outside bathing the bedroom in a cold and bluish light. Like a winter moon. Or some other kind of moon. Something stellar and alien in its light that he'd come to feel comfortable with. Anything but sleep in the dark.
Before Moss leaves to revisit the scene of the crime, he takes note of his surroundings, describing the vaporlamp's light as akin to a "winter moon [...] something stellar and alien in its light." This description sets the mood for the odd, disconcerting experiences Moss has had and will continue to have. Everything is "stellar" and "alien," a world unrecognizable to Moss, changed as he is by his experiences.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Pulsing:
In Chapter 4, Moss meets Chigurh face-to-face for the first time. As Moss emerges from his hiding place under the bed to look at Chigurh, the world around him appears to warp. McCarthy uses sensory imagery in this scene to describe how Chigurh's presence impacts Moss, contributing to this apparent warping around them both:
The whole room was pulsing slowly. There was an odd smell in the air. Like some foreign cologne. A medicinal edge to it. Everything humming. Moss held the shotgun at his waist with the hammer cocked. There was nothing that could happen that would have surprised him. He felt as if he weighed nothing. He felt as if he were floating.
McCarthy describes Moss's encounter with Chigurh as an out-of-body experience, something that disorients him and distorts the world around him. Chigurh is indeed a distortion within the world, behaving according to a set of unique principles outside the bounds of social acceptance. Chigurh's presence unsettles Moss both because he is an immediate threat and because he is different, representing a world Moss has, up until his experience in the desert, only had a shadowy awareness of. As the imagery makes clear, Chigurh's energy alters Moss's worldview, exposing him to a kind of violence beyond his comprehension.
Related Themes:
