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Hyperbole
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 II. In Near Ruins
Explanation and Analysis—Villa at Night:
When introducing the character of Caravaggio to the narrative in Chapter 2 of The English Patient, Ondaatje utilizes heightened imagery to connect Caravaggio to his newfound setting of the Italian villa:
The man named Caravaggio pushes open all the windows in the room so he can hear the noises of the night. He undresses, rubs his palms gently over his neck and for a while lies down on the unmade bed. The noise of the trees, the breaking of moon into silver fish bouncing off the leaves of asters outside. The moon is on him like skin, a sheaf of water.
In this passage, Ondaatje's imagery deepens the descriptions of the natural surroundings Caravaggio experiences once he arrives at the villa. Specifically, Ondaatje uses descriptive language to engage the reader’s sense of hearing, as Caravaggio too has an auditory sensory experience lying on his bed. The villa stands in a remote location, and the language describing such a place reflects its quality of solitude: Caravaggio can hear the sound of the trees rustling and feel the brightness of the moon on his skin. It appears as if Caravaggio can even hear the moon and its spilling of light onto the trees and onto his body. Such is impossible, of course, but the narrator’s use of imagery and figurative language compels the reader to imagine the breathtaking—and perhaps even peaceful—quality of the scene. These moments of relative peace appear rarely in The English Patient, as danger continues to lurk within the walls of the villa.
Related Themes:
Chapter X. August
Explanation and Analysis—Hallucination:
After Kip leaves the villa in Chapter 10 of The English Patient, intent on shedding himself of all Western influence and culture, the English patient remains in Italy surrounded with memories and guilt over his ties with English colonialism. During the middle of one night, the English patient wakes up and appears to see the shadow of Kip standing in his room—a hallucination Ondaatje heightens with the use of imagery:
Around three a.m. he feels a presence in the room. He sees, for a pulse of a moment, a figure at the foot of his bed, against the wall or painted onto it perhaps, not quite discernible in the darkness of foliage beyond the candlelight. He mutters something, something he had wanted to say, but there is silence and the slight brown figure, which could be just a night shadow, does not move.
In this passage, the English patient is clearly hallucinating, for Kip has left the villa and is unlikely to return. However, the English patient, aware of the literal and symbolic blood on the hands of his Western people, feels guilt for the way his people have treated non-White Easterners like Kip. The English patient not only feels guilt for colonialist actions before and during World War II, but particularly after he discovers that the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—the events that trigger Kip's attempted murder of the patient. Ondaatje uses powerful imagery to capture the patient’s sense of disorientation as he “feels," “sees," and “mutters” into the dark room. The use of these action verbs engages the reader’s senses, appealing to the sense of sight (or lack thereof in this case) and the sense of touch.
Related Themes:
