Pain
As soon as an arrow struck his ankle, George Caldwell felt that he was in pain. That pain “scaled the slender core of his shin, whirled in the complexities of his knee, and, swollen broader, more thunderous, mouthed into his bowels”. It seemed that pain was a living being, for in a minute George felt how his pain “extended a feeler into his head and unfolded its wet wings along the walls of his thorax”. George felt that he himself was “a large bird waking from sleep”, for he clearly didn’t expect it. The pain “seemed to be displacing with its own hairy segments his heart and lungs”. The children were enjoying themselves, “leering and baying at their teacher”. This imagery depicts sharp physical pain, which is enhanced with public humiliation.
Arousal
Zimmerman’s love life could drive crazy not only his own bride but the whole school. If Zimmerman wasn’t present in the class, it might have been a typical lesson for George Caldwell. Unfortunately for him, Zimmerman was more interested in pretty female students than teaching methods of Caldwell. He “was leaning over whispering to the Osgood girl; his percipient eyes fondled the hidden smooth curve of her dugs”. It wouldn’t be as bad as it was, if Zimmerman’s lechery wouldn’t have “smelled”. The kids “were catching fire” and were absolutely incontrollable. Deifendorf “was tickling” the neck of the girl in from of him. Others kids were “doodling” or just sitting with “smutty” faces. The imagery portrays lust of Zimmerman and excitement of the students. It also gives an impression of uneasiness, for Caldwell wasn’t sure what to do.
A laughing stock
To Peter’s dismay, his father didn’t care about the way he looked. He usually wore “his overcoat, a tattered checkered castoff with mismatching buttons, which he had rescued from a church sale”. It “was too small and barely reached his knees”. On his head “he wore a hideous blue knitted cap that he had plucked out of a trash barrel at school”. When it was pulled down over his ears, “it made him look like an overgrown dimwit in a comic strip”. This imagery gives a reader a chance to understand to what an extent George abandons himself. The imagery also evokes a feeling of pity.
