Childbirth
At the beginning of the novel, Sarah tells us that her younger sister Emma died during childbirth. This was an incredibly traumatic experience for Sarah and is something that partly motivated her desire to isolate herself from the world. Sarah uses imagery to describe Emma's death, emphasizing the pain it caused her: "my little sister's life dragged from her body. Her wails of pain, then her whimpers that terrified me even more, the desperate grip of her hand that weakened and finally let go."
Light in the cell
Sarah begins to adapt to her life in the cell, experiencing boredom as there is not a lot to do. As such, her senses become keener and she begins to notice the little details; for example, "patches of dull light glimmered through gaps in the thatch and a soft golden glow came from somewhere above me." She begins to appreciate small things in nature, like the light escaping through holes in the thatch roof.
Louise
When Sarah first meets Louise, she looks through the window of her cell and can just about see her face. She then uses imagery to describe Louise, saying that the shadows emphasize "its cobweb of wrinkles. Her hands were folded across her belly in a stance that I would ever after connect with her voice."
