High Tide in Tucson Imagery
The reader visualizes what the narrator experiences while in the Bahamas when she describes what she sees and wishes that her daughter could see the same. The narrator says, "I had spent a week in the Bahamas, and while I was there, wishing my daughter could see those sparkling blue bays and sandy coves, I did exactly what she would have done: I collected shells.” This imagery is vital because it plays a significant role in helping the readers visualize the reality on the ground.
The Imagery of Sight
The sense of sight is appealed to the reader when the narrator indicates that she arrives at her home at night when there is no enough light to enable her daughter to see the gift she has brought her. She says, “I got home in the middle of the night, but couldn't wait till morning to show my hand. I set the carton on the coffee table for my daughter to open. In the dark living room, her face glowed, in the way of antique stories about children and treasure." The reader understands that visibility at night is poor and that is why the narrator is putting the carton on the coffee table till morning hours when there is enough lighting to enable her daughter to open the gift.
The Imagery of the Whelk
The whelk produces the tap-tap sound which helps the narrator to appeal the sense of hearing to the reader. The narrator writes, “First it extended one long red talon of a leg, tap-tap-tapping like a blind man’s cane. Then came half a dozen redder legs, plus a pair of eyes on stalks, and a purple claw that snapped open and shut in a way that could not mean We Come in Friendship.” Through this imagery, the reader can hear how the whelk is walking while producing the tap-tap sound.
