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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
Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—The Veldt:
When introducing readers to the African veldt scene that the Hadley children conjured up in their virtual reality nursery, Bradbury uses rich imagery, as seen in the following passage:
Now the hidden odorophonics were beginning to blow a wind of odor at the two people in the middle of the baked veldtland. The hot straw smell of lion grass, the cool green smell of the hidden water hole, the great rusty smell of animals, the smell of dust like a red paprika in the hot air. And now the sounds: the thump of distant antelope feet on grassy sod, the papery rustling of vultures. A shadow passed through the sky. The shadow flickered on George Hadley’s upturned, sweating face.
Bradbury uses olfactory imagery when describing “the hot straw smell of lion grass,” “the cool green smell of the hidden water hole,” “the great rusty smell of animals,” and “the smell of dust like a red paprika.” He then switches to auditory imagery when noting the “thump of distant antelope feet on grassy sod” and “the papery rustling of vultures.” The description of the “baked veldtland” and George’s “sweating” face are subtle examples of tactile imagery since they help readers to feel the heat in the scene.
All of these details combine to help readers understand just how powerful this virtual reality technology is. The Happylife Home is somehow able to conjure real smells, temperatures, sounds, and visuals all at once, despite being an empty playroom when the technology is turned off. The hyperrealistic nature of the nursery’s technology is, readers are meant to intuit, the reason behind the Hadley children’s addiction to it, and also the reason why the kids are willing to kill their parents to retain their access to it (after the parents threaten to remove the technology for good).
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Rima in the Forest:
After confronting their children about the unsettling African veldt landscape that they found in the virtual reality nursery (and after the children claim that no such veldt exists), George and Lydia visit the nursery to see if their children are telling the truth. In this scene, Bradbury includes both imagery and an allusion, as seen in the following passage:
There was a green, lovely forest, a lovely river, a purple mountain, high voices singing, and Rima, lovely and mysterious, lurking in the trees with colorful flights of butterflies, like animated bouquets, lingering in her long hair. The African veldtland was gone. The lions were gone. Only Rima was here now, singing a song so beautiful that it brought tears to your eyes.
The imagery here engages different senses at once—the descriptions of the “green, lovely forest,” the “purple mountain,” and the “colorful flights of butterflies, like animated bouquets” all help readers to visualize the scene, while the description of the “high voices singing” helps them to hear it. The note about how the song is one “so beautiful that it brought tears to your eyes” also engages readers emotionally.
All of these descriptions are meant to help readers understand how different this virtual reality scene is than the previous one with the desolate African veldt full of hungry lions—the children are clearly aware of the fact that they are doing something “wrong” in letting their violent impulses create the scenery in the nursery and are trying to cover it up with this “lovely” forest scene.
The allusion here is to W. H. Hudson’s 1904 novel Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest, which features a protagonist named Rima, a young girl who lives in the forest in South America. The Rima in this virtual reality scene is clearly a reference to the Rima of Hudson’s tale.
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Explanation and Analysis—Eerie Children:
The first time that Wendy and Peter appear in the story—abruptly returning home from a carnival—Bradbury uses a pair of similes to capture the pair's eerie energy, as seen in the following passage:
“Hello, Mom. Hello, Dad.”
The Hadleys turned. Wendy and Peter were coming in the front door, cheeks like peppermint candy, eyes like bright blue agate marbles, a smell of ozone on their jumpers from their trip in the helicopter.
“You’re just in time for supper,” said both parents.
The similes here—in which Bradbury describes the children’s cheeks as being “like peppermint candy” and their eyes “like bright blue agate marbles”—communicate that Wendy and Peter are almost like cartoon versions of children. Typical children’s cheeks do not have the extreme red and white swirl pattern of peppermint candy and typical eyes (however blue) do not have the perfectly round and bright quality of agate marbles.
Bradbury’s descriptions here—along with the fact that the children speak in unison—are meant to unsettle readers and have them wonder if there is something unnatural going on beneath the children's overly-sweet exterior. This proves to be the case as, later in the story, the children’s violent nature emerges in their decision to train virtual reality lions to kill their parents.
Related Themes:
