The outside world (Visual Imagery)
"She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard" (8).
Bleak, dull imagery engulfs Della and Jim’s apartment and scenes of their neighborhood at large. The repetition of “gray” in reference to the cat, fence, and backyard forcefully emphasizes the lifelessness of Della and Jim’s surroundings. The drab image of the neighborhood serves multiple purposes: first, it is a metaphor for Della’s own gloominess and disappointment in not having saved enough money to buy Jim a proper Christmas present. Secondly, the imagery creates a stark juxtaposition between Della and Jim’s internal world—their loving, comforting relationship—and the cold, drab external world around them. In other words, their love transcends their dreary, unremarkable, and indifferent environment.
Jim's appearance (Visual Imagery)
“He looked very thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two—and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves” (12).
Jim’s return to the apartment marks a climatic moment in the story, as we don’t receive enough context or foreshadowing to predict his reaction to Della’s haircut. The narrator, however, halts the action to provide a brief yet detailed sketching of Jim’s appearance. Notably, the narrator relies on visual imagery and Jim's physical attributes—rather than dialogue or descriptions of his internal attributes—to characterize him as a “burdened” young man facing inordinate hardships and responsibilities. For instance, Jim's old overcoat, thinness, and bare, unprotected hands each signify and externalize his disadvantaged economic status. Through this focus on external attributes, the narrator illustrates how an individual’s brush with systemic stressors—such as poverty—can manifest in their physical appearance.
Della's haircut (Visual Imagery)
As Della attempts to curl her short hair after her sacrificial haircut, the narrator remarks that the curls make her "look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy,” while Della compares her appearance to that of a “Coney Island chorus girl” (11). These similes connote the extremity of Della’s visual transformation: her long hair serves as the foreboding symbol of her femininity, and without it, she takes on a more immature, masculine appearance. The imagery of Della’s new, dramatically different appearance thus symbolizes the immediate, palpable consequences of her sacrifice.
