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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
Day One
Explanation and Analysis—Dreaming of Africa:
The first day detailed in the novella ends with imagery describing Santiago's dreams:
He dreamed of Africa when he was a boy and the long golden beaches and the white beaches, so white they hurt your eyes, and the high capes and the great brown mountains. [...] he heard the surf roar and saw the native boats come riding through it. He smelled the tar and oakum of the deck as he slept and he smelled the smell of Africa that the land breeze brought at morning.
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Day Two
Explanation and Analysis—Man-of-War:
Hemingway describes the Sargasso weed and the Portuguese man-of-war (a sea creature closely associated with jellyfish) that Santiago sails by with imagery and a simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Nothing showed on the surface of the water but some patches of yellow, sun-bleached Sargasso weed and the purple, formalized, iridescent, gelatinous bladder of a Portuguese man-of-war floating close beside the boat. [...] It floated cheerfully as a bubble with its long deadly purple filaments trailing a yard behind it in the water.
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Day Three
Explanation and Analysis—The Marlin Emerges:
Both imagery and simile is used by Hemingway as he describes the first time Santiago lays eyes on the marlin he has hooked:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender. His sword was as long as a baseball bat and tapered like a rapier and he rose his full length from the water and then re-entered it, smoothly, like a diver and the old man saw the great scythe-blade of his tail go under and the line commenced to race out.
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Day Four
Explanation and Analysis—Teeth like Fingers:
Hemingway describes Santiago's first shark sighting with imagery and simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+His back was as blue as a sword fish’s and his belly was silver and his hide was smooth and handsome. [...] all of his eight rows of teeth were slanted inwards. They were not the ordinary pyramid-shaped teeth of most sharks. They were shaped like a man’s fingers when they are crisped like claws. They were nearly as long as the fingers of the old man and they had razor-sharp cutting edges on both sides.
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