The Baron in the Trees Imagery

The Baron in the Trees Imagery

Ombrosa enveloped in trees

The narrator makes comparison of his home Ombrosa at the moment of writing the book and how it was when he was young. He mentions the story of a monkey being able to skip from tree to tree from Rome to Spain without touching the ground. He tells how Ombrosa used be famous for the thickness of the trees. Biagio describes how there used to be only leaves and branches between them and the sky. He describes how lemons grew close to the ground, among them rising the shapes of fig trees, extending toward orchards of cherry. peach, plum, pear and apples. After the orchards came the olive trees. The roofs of village houses were touched by branches of oaks and plane trees, This imagery of a place enveloped with the richness of the trees showcases a utopia-like place and contrasts with the bareness of human-made destruction.

The meadow

At the beginning of his life above the ground, Cosimo feels restless to explore the new world, his kingdom. He is untraceable and when he pauses it is to observe the imagery before him. He stops to observe the meadow, to feel the slight breeze that moves the thick green grass and white tufts of dandelions. In the middle of the meadow, he observes the lone pine tree with little birds perching on clusters of pine needles and pecking at worms and pine nuts. This is one of the many images that serve to enhance the beauty of the nature, and man's connection to the nature.

Books

Books become an important part of Cosimo's life in trees. His love for books is enhanced at the time when he had to collect books for the burglar, He even builds his own bookshelf in the trees to keep the books. The novel itself is in the form of a memoir of Cosimo's life written by his brother.

Ombrosa and thread of ink

Biagio ends the memoir wondering if Ombrosa with its mesh of leaves and twigs of fork and froth with only glimpses of sky ever existed. He wonders if this utopia place existed only so his brother can pass through it. Maybe Ombrosa was embroidered in nothing, like the thread of ink running page after page, swarming with corrections, bursting into clear big berries on some places, or tiny starry seeds, and then twisting away into leaves and clouds. In this final image of Ombrosa connected to the ink and storytelling, gives evidence to it being a fictional place written for the sake of portraying a character of rebellion trying to relate a message to humanity.

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.