Lightning Bugs Flashed (Visual Imagery)
In Chapter 1, Jim waits on Miss Watson's porch for her to bring him some cornbread. He observes the nighttime atmosphere: "The moon was not quite full, but bright, and it was behind them, so I could see them as plain as day, though it was deep night. Lightning bugs flashed against the black canvas." In this example of visual imagery, Everett contrasts the bright pulsing lights of the fireflies with the darkness behind them.
A Slap, A Crack (Auditory Imagery)
Midway through the novel, while Jim and Huck are separated, Jim hides out under a tree in the woods of Illinois. Several local slaves befriend him, bringing him supplies, such as a pencil that Young George steals from his master. The night Jim leaves his woods hideout, he hears something unsettling: "Half a mile in, I became aware of a familiar sound. It echoed around me. A slap. A crack. I saw firelight in the near distance. The noise drew me closer. Louder as I approached, sick thuds full of bad rhythm and punctuation." In this example of auditory imagery, Jim hears the sickening but familiar sound of an overseer whipping a slave. In this case, it is Young George being whipped as punishment for taking the pencil Jim carries in his pocket.
More Like Animal and Human Waste Than Sawdust (Olfactory Imagery)
In order to earn enough money to buy their wives out of slavery, Jim and Norman devise a plan for Norman, who is white-passing, to sell Jim to a sawmill owner. In Jim's narration, Everett writes: "The sawmill was dirty, as sawmills always were. This one was a small, sad affair that smelled more like animal and human waste than sawdust." In this example of olfactory imagery, Everett appeals to the reader's sense of smell to add depth and realism to the unpleasant scene Jim encounters.
Rang Through That Valley Like a Cannon Blast (Auditory Imagery)
At the novel's climax, Jim sets fire to one of Graham's fields as a distraction while he frees his wife and daughter from the breeding plantation. When the breeder, Graham, comes out of his home with a shotgun, Jim is quick to shoot the man with his pistol: "The shot I fired rang through that valley like a cannon blast. It echoed, seemingly forever." In another example of auditory imagery, Everett describes the abrupt, violent sound of the gunshot echoing ominously through the valley.
