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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 4: Abhilash Talkies
Explanation and Analysis—Quarter-Boiled:
When Estha goes into the lobby of the movie theater to sing by himself, he encounters the Orangedrink Lemondrink man behind the refreshment counter. The Orangedrink Lemondrink man then sexually assaults Estha, illustrated through imagery and a metaphor:
Then the gristly-bristly face contorted, and Estha’s hand was wet and hot and sticky. It had egg white on it. White egg white. Quarter-boiled.
The lemondrink was cold and sweet. The penis was soft and shriveled like an empty leather change purse. With his dirtcolored rag, the man wiped Estha’s other hand.
Related Themes:
Chapter 9: Mrs. Pillai, Mrs. Eapen, Mrs. Rajagopalan
Explanation and Analysis—Unkissed Princes:
As the sun sets in Ayemenem, Rahel notices the small things in the landscape through sensory imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The green-for-the-day had seeped from the trees. Dark palm leaves were splayed like drooping combs against the monsoon sky. The orange sun slid through their bent, grasping teeth. A squadron of fruit bats sped across the gloom. In the abandoned ornamental garden, Rahel, watched by lolling dwarfs and a forsaken cherub, squatted by the stagnant pond and watched toads hop from stone to scummy stone. Beautiful Ugly Toads. Slimy. Warty Croaking. Yearning, unkissed princes trapped inside them. Food for snakes that lurked in the long June grass. Rustle. Lunge. No more toad to hop from stone to scummy stone. No more prince to kiss.
Related Themes:
Chapter 13: The Pessimist and the Optimist
Explanation and Analysis—A Spongy Mermaid:
In a description of Sophie Mol's corpse, taken out of the river Meenachal, the novel uses contrasting imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It was something to do with the way she lay. The angle of her limbs. Something to do with Death’s authority. Its terrible stillness. Green weed and river grime was woven into her beautiful red-brown hair. Her sunken eyelids were raw, nibbled at by fish. (O yes they do, the deepswimming fish. They sample everything.) Her mauve corduroy pinafore said Holiday! in a tilting, happy font. She was as wrinkled as a dhobi’s thumb from being in water for too long. A spongy mermaid who had forgotten how to swim. A silver thimble clenched, for luck, in her little fist.
Related Themes:
Chapter 18: The History House
Explanation and Analysis—Boot on Bone:
When Estha and Rahel wake in the History House, they find Velutha being viciously beaten by six policeman. With gruesome imagery, the novel illustrates the brutality of the officers and the nature of Velutha's injuries:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They heard the thud of wood on flesh. Boot on bone. On teeth. The muffled grunt when a stomach is kicked in. The muted crunch of skull on cement. The gurgle of blood on a man’s breath when his lung is torn by the jagged end of a broken rib.
