Specimen Days Imagery

Specimen Days Imagery

Imagery of sight

Catherine is still shocked by the sudden death of her fiancé, who has just been buried. She stands at the window and looks outside, hoping to see him again. The author's description of how Catherine stares out of the window depicts a sense of sight to the reader. The author writes, “She looked uncertainly out the parlor window and into the street, as if she expected a glittering carriage to wheel along with Simon on board, a serene in his headless milk-white beauty, waving and grinning, going gladly to the place where he had always belonged.”

The imagery of hearing

Lucas says, “I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end. But I do not talk of the beginning of the end." Lucas' narrations depict the sense of hearing to readers, and he engages them in his conversation with Catherine.

The imagery of heavenly entourage

The authors depict the sense of sight when writing, "She continued looking out at the street below, waiting for the heavenly entourage to parade buy Simon up top, the pride of the family, a new prince of death.” This imagery does depict the sense of sight and the significance of Simon's life to those left behind. For instance, Simon was the breadwinner for his entire family, but he is now gone forever. Catherine argues that Simon is now the new prince of death because he is just the best person who ever lived during her lifetime.

The imagery of smell

When Lucas is escorting Catherine to her place, he realizes that the streets are smelly. The author writes, “The Street was full of its smell, dung, and kerosene, acrid smoke – something somewhere was always burning." The street description helps the reader create an imaginative picture of how it looks and smells, and this is the perfect way the author engages his readers to walk with him to the end of the story.

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