The Imagery of Isadora
Rutherford explains, “She (Isadora) let herself get fat, for example, to end the pressure women feel from being endlessly ogled and propositioned. Men hardly noticed her, pudgy as she was, and this suited Isadora just fine. She had a religious respect for Work. She was a nervous eater too, I guess, the sort of lonely, intelligent woman who found comfort in food, or went to restaurants simply to be treated kindly by the waiter.” Isadora’s compulsive eating is contributory to her plumpness. She is weathering a psychological conflict which could be attributed to limited self-esteem. Isadora considers that she is not stunning; eating is a stratagem of dealing with her perceptions of inferiority. If she had ample self-esteem, she would not indulge in binge eating since it aversely affects her look.
The Imagery of Rutherford’s Apprehension after Meeting Philippe (Papa)
Rutherford narrates, “For the rest of that day, and most of the night, I had cold shakes and fits of feat-induced hiccupping. Stumbling from the tavern, I felt light-headed, ready to fall , and slapped one hand on the wall outside to steady myself.” Papa insists that Rutherford must wed Isadora for his debts to be written off. Rutherford’s dread for marriage elicits his hiccups. He dreads the modifications that will ensue in his life after the enforced marriage. He is not categorically excited by the matrimony. Failure to conform to Papa’s orders would elicit disaster in his existence. The pressure stimulates his resolution to escape to sea.
The Imagery of the Republic
Rutherford describes, “All in all, she was a typical ship, I learned those first few days from Cringle, and by this he meant she was stinking and wet, with sea scurvy and god-awful diseases rampant; but even queerer than all this- strange to me, at least- the Republic was physically unstable. She was perpetually flying apart and reforming during the voyage, falling into pieces beneath us, the great sails ripping to rags in high winds, the rots, cracks, and parasites in wood so cancerously swift, springing up where least expected.” Manifestly, the ship is utterly depreciated; hence , the voyage is not utter bliss. The patent depreciation hints at the depraved nature to the trade in which the ship is employed. Occupants’ lives are at risk due to the pervasive diseases and the instability of the ship which could culminate in its capsizing.
