Rainy Manhattan
At the beginning of the story, the narrator describes the rainy streets of Manhattan with vivid sensory language. For example, Blake notices how “much louder the rain made the noises of the street," and the "horns... blowing urgently on a crosstown street in the distance.” Just a few paragraphs later, the rain turns sinister. When Blake realizes that Miss Dent is following him, the rain mixes with "the sweat of fear." "Cold water [falls] onto his face and onto his bare hands," the sensation of which exacerbates “the rancid smell of the wet gutters and pavings." These sensations emphasize Blake's experience of genuine fear.
Shop Window
When Blake looks into a store window on his way to the Manhattan train station, he notices an eerie scene. The descriptions of the scene are detailed: it is “arranged like a room in which people live and entertain their friends.” There are “cups on the coffee table, magazines to read, and flowers in the vases... [but] the flowers are dead and the cups are empty and the guest had not come.” As Blake peers in at this dismal scene, he literally sees himself in it: the reflection of the glass situates him inside the room, as well as the crowds “that [are] passing, like shadows, at his back.” Thus the emptiness of the scene acts as a mirror for Blake, whose own life is similarly empty.
Twilight
As Blake sits on the train under fear of death, he watches the landscape pass him by. Cheever uses both simile and personification to aid in the imagery: "Clouds [are] rolling down like a shutter," and the sky's orange light "rakes the banks of the river with a dim firelight." These literary devices contrast the beauty of the landscape with the grotesqueness of the characters' interaction on the train.
