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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
Key Examples in Oliver Twist
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Death-Like Trees:
In Chapter 7, Oliver resolves to run away from the Sowerberry house after he is punished for defending his late mother from Noah Claypole's insults. The narrator uses dark and light imagery and a simile comparing trees to gravestones to emphasize the interplay between Oliver's desperate situation and his hope for a better life:
It was a cold dark night. The stars seemed to the boy’s eyes further from the earth than he had ever seen them before; there was no wind, and the sombre shadows thrown by the trees on the earth looked sepulchral and death-like, from being so still. He softly reclosed the door, and, having availed himself of the expiring light of the candle to tie up in a handkerchief the few articles of wearing apparel he had, sat himself down upon a bench to wait for morning.
Related Themes:
Chapter 28
Explanation and Analysis—Unwholesome Wind:
An instance of imagery that relies on personification occurs in Chapter 28, when the narrator finally describes what happened to Oliver after the attempted burglary at the Maylies' house several chapters before. The narrator returns to Oliver lying injured in the ditch where Sikes left him:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The air grew colder as day came slowly on, and the mist rolled along the ground like a dense cloud of smoke; the grass was wet, the pathways and low places were all mire and water, and the damp breath of an unwholesome wind went languidly by with a hollow moaning. Still Oliver lay motionless and insensible on the spot where Sikes had left him.
Related Themes:
