Olfactory imagery of the nature
The place where John Mauser built his home on top of a Native American ground is described through the scent that once used to linger there. The ground used to be scented with “mammoth basswood that scented the air over the lake, for miles out”, that tempted the first priests coming there.
Visual imagery of Fleur Pillager upon her arrival to the Mauser home
Elizabeth describes the first impression of Fleur when she came to work to the Mauser home. The striking figure layered in shawls left a deep impression on her; “it was more an absence, a slot for a coin, an invitation for the curious, than a woman come to plead for menial work". This outward impression of Fleur is in correspondence with the truth of her arrival and the events that succeeded it.
Visual imagery of the character of Tatro
Tatro is a character of an old white man owning a pouring house, or a bar, who mostly lives by making trades with Native Americans, selling them alcohol for valuable Native American objects. He is described by often times staring into his own reflection and not recognizing himself. “People saw him start and pull away from his reflection. He didn’t look much different from it, anyway, all hollow-eyed and bluish gray from lack of sleep and smoky air.” This imagery is striking because it shows a character who takes advantage of other people’s weaknesses, knowing well the gross difference in value of what they trade for their weakness, i.e. alcohol, and realizing the rottenness of it.
Auditory imagery of Fleur’s introduction to the Mauser
Fleur’s presence in the Mauser house is described as that of a predator assessing and noiselessly moving. On the night she reveals herself to the man she came to kill, she soundlessly enters his bedroom. She introduces herself as “the sound that the wind used to make in a thousand needles of pine”, “the quiet at the root”. With this introduction Fleur intends to remind Mauser of the pain he brought upon by taking her land and the land of her ancestors and reveal that she is there for revenge.
