Pain in the Hospital (Visual, Tactile Imagery)
As Elwood recovers from the severe beating he receives, his pain is described using a powerful combination of literal and metaphorical language. The reader receives ample descriptions of his raw skin, blood, and fibers embedded into his flesh from the force of the beating, as well as narration in which Elwood chronicles the burning, searing pain by which he continues to be haunted for weeks. Whitehead rarely shies away from plunging the reader into a full depiction of horrific abuse, and the descriptions of Elwood's recovery in the hospital are no exception to this general stylistic theme.
At Zion Hill (Auditory Imagery)
Elwood listens to Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches on a record player at the beginning, which later become a running motif that motivates Elwood and structures how he conceives of his morals, ethics, and general attitude towards Nickel Academy. The speeches are described many times, reminding the reader of the important place that these speeches hold in Elwood's memory. Additionally, their role as speeches that can be remembered make them a unique artifact that is safe from the forces at Nickel Academy; Elwood's ability to recall Dr. King Jr.'s voice is internal and safe from any form of physical violence.
Nickel Academy (Visual Imagery)
Nickel's visual appearance creates the illusion that the school is harmless. When Elwood first approaches the school, it is described as being the "nicest-looking property" that Elwood has ever seen. It has rolling green hills and a neatly painted exterior—misleading, normal details that hide the dark truths that lie within it. Behind this banal, quotidian image lie abuse and death; later on, when the school is excavated, it is revealed that there are literally dead bodies buried beneath this facade.
The Heat (Tactile Imagery)
In one of the flash-forward scenes that center on Turner/"Elwood," he spends time in New York during a heatwave. The heat, and the description of it, becomes a powerful image that connects Turner's present to his past. It reminds him of the oppressive Floridian heat that he lived in while at Nickel Academy, and he finds comfort in the fact that the New York heat will never feel as bad as that southern heat. The heat allows Whitehead to create a contrast between Turner's two lives, while at the same time reinforcing some of the ongoing threads that run through both phases of Turner's life.
