Candlelight and Terror
In the following passage, candlelight acts as both a domestic image and a source of unease: "Wax sloshes off slowly and trickles down a side. You close your left eye, then the right, then the left again, enjoying the way the flame shifts…Your mother’s face lifts from her phone screen and watches you…Through both eyes, you see terror spread over her face, the way it does when a flying cockroach is in the vicinity." It suggests a childlike fascination yet the intimate setting creates a contrast when the mother’s terror emerges. The comparison of her reaction to that of a "flying cockroach" highlights an instinctive fear that transforms the ordinary into something threatening. The flame becomes a harbinger of something unsettling and unknowable. This passage hints at generational and personal tensions in the family dynamic.
The Haunting Pimple
This imagery captures an ominous atmosphere with its use of still water in a toilet bowl: "You skim the inside headlines of the newspaper you picked from the top of the magazine rack... After you flush, your gaze stays fixed inside the toilet bowl…You watch until the water in the bowl stills." The action of staring into the bowl after flushing becomes symbolic of the character’s obsessive search for resolution. It reflects a moment of eerie calm that belies a deeper disturbance beneath the surface. The fixation on the toilet bowl shifts the reader’s perception of everyday life. The character's own body also mirrors this unsettling fixation on physical and emotional blemishes.
Raffia Masquerade's Voice
The narrator states, "The raffia masquerade keeps moving, never still; it says, 'We are your masquerades.' Its voice is like a drum, deep and reverberating through Pauly’s chest." This instance of imagery evokes a powerful auditory and tactile sensation. The masquerade is described as constantly in motion implying both life and a mystical presence. Its voice reverberates spiritually through Pauly. Drums in African cultures signify communication with the divine, the ancestral, or the spiritual. As such, the masquerade’s voice acts as a reminder of the connection between Pauly and these cultural elements. This reinforces the theme of identity and the weight of ancestral ties.
Dusk Market's Sensory Landscape
The Dusk Market is brought to life through a vivid layering of sensory details: "There is the smoky smell of dried stockfish…the buzzing of protective flies that circle the bloody cuts of meat…the singeing heat from the agbada, frying yams and sweet potatoes…the flicker of flames within rusting kerosene lanterns that will show you the way to the dusk market." The smells, sounds, and sights create an immersive experience. It is a liminal space appearing at dusk and brimming with life, tension, and mystery. The flickering flames of kerosene lanterns represent the thin boundary between the known and the unknown. Thus, the market’s bustling life and sensory overload hint at its ethereal nature.
