The Unvanquished Imagery

The Unvanquished Imagery

Sartoris home burning

Union soldiers raid the Sartoris home, take the silver trunk and burn the house. The chapter ends with the imagery of the house burning:

" They went on. Louvinia had come back; she and Ringo were behind us. The smoke boiled up, yellow and slow, and turning copper-colored in the sunset like dust; it was like dust from a road above the feet that made it, and then went on, boiling up slow and hanging and waiting to die away."

Group of slaves travelling to cross Jordan

On the road to Hawkhurst after their home gets burned down, Granny and the boys are met with a large group of black slaves. The first thing they notice is a sound of feet against the ground and then a panting murmur. The sound is quite peculiar; Bayard describes it as sounding not like a song, but a breathing, gasping and murmuring chant and feet whispering fast in the dust. This imagery is very striking because one can almost hear; picture the sound of this large group of people, almost in a trance, traveling towards the river.

Granny's death

The image of Bayard discovering his Granny's been shot and finding her covered with a calico dress is quite emotionally triggering. He frantically ran into the room filled with smell of gun-powder and discovers her barely alive. The writer's metaphorical use is, as always, very unusual, but nonetheless impactful. Granny's body is described as thin dry light sticks notched together with a cord, and now that cord was broken.

Verbena scent

Drusilla uses verbena flowers to cover the smell of gun powder and horses while in the war. The habit stays with her and that smell impacts Bayard and his feelings for her. At the end, he enters his room and discovers a knot of those flowers on his pillow intoxicating his room with their smell.

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