The night sky (Visual Imagery)
Light and dark are common motifs throughout the novel, and darkness is used to describe the night sky. The moon is "sliced in half" by the darkness, painting a visual picture of the sky and drawing a parallel to the conflicts occurring on the plantation.
“The moon, sliced in half by the encroaching darkness, was nevertheless suspended high up in the night. It could be seen through the boughs of trees, threaded against it, as Adam steered the horses slowly up the trail to the Halifax property. Adam sat erect and cautious in the driver’s seat as Paul lay back in the coach, looking straight up into the sky through its opening.”
The smell of flowers (Olfactory Imagery)
The smell of flowers overwhelms Ruth as she stands outside in the middle of the night: “The smells overwhelmed her. Not just heal-all, but also coneflowers and gardenias. She bent down to inhale. She closed her eyes and asked herself why not a bedroom right here, in the middle of the garden, under a tent, of course, but yes, in the springtime this was the place she should lay her head every night.” Ruth imagines going to sleep in the middle of the gardens under the stars, surrounded by the smell of flowers. The language evokes strong images of nature and the outdoors.
Samuel and Isaiah's smell (Olfactory Imagery)
The beginning of the novel describes Samuel and Isaiah’s physical bodies, as they are concerned that they smell from their work in the barn. The vivid descriptions evoke the physical sensations of exhaustion and scents: “Daily, just before sundown, when the others were bent out of shape from fieldwork and tried to find an elusive peace in their shacks, there Samuel and Isaiah were, scrubbing themselves with mint leaves, juniper, sometimes root beer, washing away the layers of stink.”
The interior of the slave ship (Visual and Olfactory Imagery)
Jones vividly describes the interior of the slave ship that Kosii is trapped on. Sensory details such as the lack of water, flashes of light, and vomit evoke strong images. Kosii’s reaction to the light—his eyes hurting—also serves to depict a physical reaction to the sensations he is experiencing.
“The flashes of light that barged in—when one of the skinless fools came down to check on the chains, and to bring not enough water and inedible slop—allowed him the opportunity to snatch glimpses of his surroundings: other bodies chained to him and around him. Between inhaling and vomiting up the funk, and eyelids squeezed shut from the effort, he opened his and the light hurt, too, but he looked around to see if there were any people marked like him with the Kosongo symbol of eternity: the snake kissing its tail and the woman at the center. But there were too many shadows” (p. 236).
