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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 1
Explanation and Analysis—Blue, White, Yellow:
As Arthur collapses on the stage during his performance at the beginning of the novel, the author uses visual imagery to blur the boundary between King Lear’s fictional world and reality. As Jeevan performs CPR and tries to restore Arthur to life, the lights and fake snow of the storm scene onstage are replaced by the yellow glare of the house lights:
The lights changed, the blues and whites of the snowstorm replaced by a fluorescent glare that seemed yellow by comparison. Jeevan worked silently in the margarine light, glancing sometimes at Arthur’s face. Please, he thought, please.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—No More Light:
Near the beginning of the novel, there’s an entire chapter in the voice of the third-person narrator that just lists things that the Georgia Flu has destroyed. In this short section of the book, Mandel employs visual imagery to emphasize how profound the loss of both large-scale and small-scale moments can feel:
Unlock with LitCharts A+No more diving into pools of chlorinated water lit green from below. No more ball games played out under floodlights. No more porch lights with moths fluttering on summer nights.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Symphony Paused:
The Symphony makes a rapid exit from St. Deborah by the Water after their first run-in with the Prophet and his cult. As they rest uneasily, the narrator uses visual and auditory imagery to create a distant and distracted atmosphere:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The Symphony stopped to rest in the early afternoon. Would the prophet send men after them, or had they been allowed to leave? The conductor sent scouts back down the road. Kirsten climbed up to the driver’s bench of the third caravan. A dull buzz of insects from the forest, tired horses grazing at the side of the road. The wildflowers growing by the roadside were abstract from this vantage point, paint dots of pink and purple and blue in the grass.
Related Themes:
Chapter 43
Explanation and Analysis—Day Five Flags:
When they are stranded in Severn City airport, the passengers of several planes have to do their best to survive with little news from the outside world. After a few days, they run out of clean clothes. The author uses visual imagery to create a brief sense of cheerfulness in their otherwise desperate situation, as Clark observes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+On Day Five they broke into the gift shop, because some people had no clean clothes, and after that, at any given moment half of the population was dressed in bright red or blue Beautiful Northern Michigan T-shirts. They washed their clothes in the sinks, and everywhere Clark turned he saw laundry hanging to dry on the backs of benches. The effect was oddly cheerful, like strings of bright flags.
Related Themes:
Chapter 51
Explanation and Analysis—Pinpricks of Light:
When she arrives at the Severn City Airport, Clark takes Kirsten into the air traffic control tower and shows her something amazing in the distance. Mandel uses visual imagery to heighten the emotional impact of seeing electric lights in a dark, post-collapse world.
Unlock with LitCharts A+In the distance, pinpricks of light arranged into a grid. There, plainly visible on the side of a hill some miles distant: a town, or a village, whose streets were lit up with electricity.
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