Courtroom Gawkers
The crowd seated in the courtroom take on the imagery of antagonists to the protagonist, Arthur. "He could sense the breathing, sweaty mass of people behind him the way you sense the weight of bullies right before they’re about to smash you into a wall of lockers at school." One might well assume that this sweaty mass of people were the twelve courtroom attendees sitting in the jury box. Perhaps the imagery combining palpable senses of sound and smell offers a peek into the boy's conscience that these "bullies" are nothing more than those who showed up to sit and watch.
Motherly Concern
Arthur's mother accompanies him to his courtroom appearances and is much the worse for wear, physically speaking. "Usually, his mom’s makeup was perfect, and her dark hair never changed. It was always styled with the same big, glossy waves held in place with the same white velvet headband. But now her face was puffy and splotched with red." This use of imagery strongly suggests the extent of the emotional toll that her son being charged with a crime and facing possible incarceration has on Arthur's mother. It is a change so striking that even her son takes note.
The Brick
It all begins with the decision by a boy to pick up a brick. "The brick felt cold and rough in his hand. It was a dangerous thing to be holding." Imagery is used here to ironically foreshadow the unexpectedly heavy weight the consequence of this one single brick will have on multiple lives. The language appeals to the texture of the brick to put across its danger rather than its size or weight as one might expect.
Roger the Carpenter
A new man enters the life of Arthur's mother, and he is immediately suspicion, picturing him as "slimeball" smoothly looking to sweep her off her feet. Instead, "Roger was balding and short and looked about ten years older than Arthur’s dad had been. He wore a striped shirt tucked into pants that appeared to have been bought that afternoon. The only thing missing was the price tag." The imagery used to portray how Roger actually winds up appearing is placed in strongly ironic juxtaposition to Arthur's imaginary version. The added detail that he seems like the kind of guy who wear new clothes without remembering to remove the price tag servers to further illustrate the gap between paranoid fantasy and mundane reality.
