Nervousness
Francis is trying to be very cautious on how to deliver the bad news about his brother's demise to his father. When the conversation starts, the father suspects that something is wrong. The father is worried that he will hear saddening news that will worsen his health. Francis's father is an old man who can see and suspect what a young man is about to say. Since Francis looks worried, the father predicts bad news, and he braces himself when he tells the son to deliver the news because he is ready to listen. Consequently, hearing is depicted when the father says, "Gracious Heavens? What am I about to hear?"
Grief
Old Moor's source of grief is discussed using imagery. Francis reminds his father that Charles is the source of grief. The father's feeling about his son depicts sensory imagery. When Francis' father learns that his son, Charles, is no more, his temperature rises, and his health worsens. To make matters worse, he gave Charles everything, including love, but he became a robber. Francis asks his father, "Is not your love for him the source of all your grief? Root out this love, and he concerns you no longer." Consequently, Francis tells his father not to love Charles anymore because he is long gone and will never return to life.
Affection
Francis's affection towards his father is described using visual imagery. Despite knowing that his father loved Charles more than him, he respected his father's decisions and always approached him with respect. The relationship between a father and his sons is a critical issue of discussion in this novel, and the author points out that parents can have preferences that might come to haunt them in their last days. Francis says, "You see, I too have a spirit, but my spirit bears the string of scorpion. And then it was the dry commonplace, the cold, the wooden Francis and all the pretty little epithets which the contrast between us suggested to your fatherly affection when he was sitting in your knee or playfully patting you Cheeks." The imagery aids readers in seeing Francis' friendliness towards his father.
