And He Drops. Into... (Visual Imagery)
When the group of friends have all gathered, Mark explains to Phil and Leah how their bullying of Adam ended in tragedy. While testing the limits of what Adam was willing to do to impress them, the friends made Adam climb onto a metal grille suspended over a deep hole. Despite the danger of the situation, the others threw rocks at Adam. Mark says: "And one hits his head. And the shock on his face is so... funny. And we’re all just... just... really chucking these stones into him, really hard and laughing and he slips. And he drops. Into... Into the er..." In this example of visual imagery, Mark tells Leah and Phil about how, after being struck by a rock one of them threw, Adam fell from the grille and into the unfathomably deep hole, presumably to his death.
Land On Adam's Corpse (Visual Imagery)
Upon learning that the police want him to identify a suspect in Adam's disappearance, Brian goes into hiding. Mark and Jan find Brian and bring him to the others. Phil insists that Brian has to go to the police and continue lying, otherwise they'll kill him. Phil says: "We’ll take you up the grille now. We’ll get you by the arms. By the legs. And we’ll swing you onto the grille. We’ll throw rocks at you until you drop through. You’ll fall into the cold. Into the dark. You’ll land on Adam’s corpse and you’ll rot together." In this example of visual imagery, Phil intimidates Brian by detailing the coldhearted process of murdering Brian just as they killed Adam.
She Strangles Herself (Visual Imagery)
Fed up with carrying on one-sided conversations with Phil, Leah eventually threatens to kill herself to see if she can get a reaction out of Phil. In his stage directions, Kelly writes: "She strangles herself, her face turning red. She falls to her knees with the exertion. Phil looks on. She is in considerable pain. Grits her teeth and squeezes. She struggles until she is lying prone on the floor. She stops. Lies there, panting. Phil opens his crisps and begins to eat them." In this example of visual imagery, Leah's dramatic and violent performance is juxtaposed with Phil's cold indifference as he proceeds to eat while ignoring Leah.
Breathing the Plastic In and Out of His Mouth (Visual Imagery)
Toward the end of the play, Phil tells Brian to bring Adam back to the hedge he has been living in the past few weeks. When Brian returns, Phil invites the heavily medicated Brian to "play a game" with a plastic grocery bag. Kelly's stage directions say: "PHIL places the bag over BRIAN’s head. … He pulls the handles back around his neck and to opposite corners, making it airtight. BRIAN is giggling inside, looking around and breathing the plastic in and out of his mouth." In this example of visual imagery, Phil grimly demonstrates how to suffocate a person using a plastic bag, which he wants the oblivious Brian to do to Adam.
