Steam Rising From a Wet Sink (Visual and Auditory Imagery)
On the opening page of The Sense of an Ending, Tony begins his narration by listing six images from his memory. The second is "steam rising from a wet sink as a hot frying pan is laughingly tossed into it." In this sentence, Barnes combines visual and auditory imagery to immerse the reader in Tony's memory. By providing the yet-to-be-contextualized detail of Veronica's mother laughing as she tosses a pan into her sink, Barnes enhances the realism and vividness of the scene fragment.
Susurrus of Awed Mutterings (Auditory Imagery)
One morning during the school assembly, Tony's headmaster announces in a somber voice that Robson, a student in the sixth form, died during the weekend. Barnes writes: "Over a susurrus of awed mutterings, he told us that Robson had been cut down in the flower of youth, that his demise was a loss to the whole school, and that we would all be symbolically present at the funeral." In this example of auditory imagery, the collective reaction of the shocked students is to speak in low voices to each other, whispering and murmuring as the headmaster continues to speak over the hum of other voices.
Beer on His Breath (Olfactory Imagery)
When Tony travels down to Kent to stay with Veronica's family for the weekend, Veronica's father drives to the train station to pick him up. Tony's immediate impression of the man is negative. He comments that "he struck me as gross. Was that beer on his breath? At this time of day? How could this man have fathered such an elfin daughter?" In this example of olfactory imagery, Tony recalls how it was not just the man's attitude and appearance that put him off, but the smell of beer on his breath.
Newspaper Clipping (Visual Imagery)
Upon returning from his trip to America, Tony learns that Adrian Finn recently committed suicide. Tony meets with their friend Alex at a pub so Alex can fill him in on the details of what happened. Tony comments: "Alex showed me a clipping from the Cambridge Evening News. ‘Tragic Death of “Promising” Young Man’. They probably kept that headline permanently set up in type." In this example of visual imagery, Barnes emphasizes the realism of the scene by detailing the headline the local newspaper printed when reporting on Adrian's death. Tony points out that the headline is so generic and impersonal that the newspaper presses probably leave the font letters set up, as they know there soon will be another young man's death to report on.
