The king's arena
Stockton uses imagery to describe the king's arena early in the story. The narrator notes that the arena is a "vast amphitheater, with...encircling galleries...mysterious vaults, and...unseen passages" (45). This imagery underlines the purpose of the arena, which is meant to leave justice up to chance. In order for that to happen, no one must have knowledge of what each door hides. The four adjectives in the passage above emphasize humans' relationship with this arena: their power is subverted in the face of its "vast," "encircling," "mysterious," and "unseen" structure. Additionally, these adjectives emphasize the lack of knowledge that this system of justice conditions.
Weddings in the arena
Stockton uses a lot of imagery when describing the typical wedding ceremony in the arena. When the prisoner chooses the door that hides the lady, the celebrations immediately begin: "a priest, followed by a band of choristers, and dancing maidens blowing joyous airs on golden horns and treading an epithalamic measure, advanced to where the pair stood, side by side, and the wedding was promptly and cheerily solemnized" (46). In the passage above, we are given visual and auditory descriptions of what a wedding ceremony in the arena entails. Additionally, the image of the man and wife standing "side by side" symbolizes their union at this juncture in their lives. We are also given the multitude's response to this celebration: "the people shouted glad hurrahs, and the innocent man, preceded by children strewing flowers on his path, led his bride to his home" (47). The imagery in these passages gives us a clear grasp of what these celebrations were like, painting a vibrant and multi-textured image of the ceremony in our minds as we read.
The princess’s fears
"Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in the blessed regions of semibarbaric futurity?
And yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood" (50).
In the passage above, the princess is debating with herself as to whether she should save her lover or let him be devoured by the tiger. The second line contains important imagery: "those shrieks, that blood." This short line gives us what the lover being mauled by a tiger would sound and look like, which brings us to that moment. It also tells us what will affect the princess most should this violence occur. The succinctness of the line emphasizes the dramatic effect of what it contains—it is a gruesome scene that would surely be horrifying to watch, especially if it is your lover who is being mauled to death by a tiger.
