The weather report imagery
As the narrator, his brother and father sit to watch the weather report, the narrator vividly describes the movement or shift in the storm vividly. The imagery of this movement is presented, as well as the narrator's father hunched on the chair: "The storm, which at first had looked like an amoeba shifting across the screen, had become unmoving bands of red and orange, as if the television had frozen, or the storm had turned sedentary, a new land formation across eastern Kansas. My father was hunched over in his chair, the heels of his shoes clamped to the bottom rung."
Imagery of the sculpted woman in profile
The narrator describes the sculpture of the woman in profile vividly a situation that enhances the creation of a mental image in the mind of the readers as they read through the story: "He brought me to a sculpture of a woman in profile, carved from alabaster, no more than two feet tall. She was set in the reddish stone, the deepest marks revealing the alabaster’s light gray core. Her hair flowed back with her dress, and her long neck leaned forward, like an animal smelling what was coming in the wind."
The abusive scene
The scene of the narrator being beaten by his father is presented graphically. As the narrator's father strips his belt from the belt loops and "whips it back", the imagery becomes more implicit. The impact of the first lash, the reader is able to perceive the pain as it 'rips' from the narrator's finger, up his arm, and into his neck. Additionally, the narrator is able to visualize the narrator's father as he drops the belt and cups the narrator's neck. As the scene continues, the imagery becomes more established and prevalent:
"He stripped his belt from the belt loops, whipped it back. After the first lash, I knew my father had hit me with the buckle. After the second, my hand having reached around to block the blow, pain ripped from my finger, up my arm, into my neck. He dropped the belt, wrapped both hands around my throat. My chin tucked. Drool swung from my lip. Tears and snot ran into my mouth. He held me inches from my own reflection, threatened to smash my face. I put my hands up to the mirror to brace myself in case he tried. One of my fingernails was missing. The buckle had popped it right off."
Imagery of the kitchen
When Philip and the narrator walk into the kitchen, the image of the dirty dishes covering the countertop can be perceived by the reader. Additionally, Philip can be visualized shooing the cat "licking the rim of a glass" and a lizard running across the wall can be visualized by the reader together with the cat as it "darts" for the rat:
"In the kitchen, dirty dishes covered the countertop. Philip shooed away a cat licking the rim of a glass. A lizard ran across the wall. The cat darted for it."
