Budhiya's death (Visual Imagery)
The narrator uses cold, factual, morbid imagery to describe the death of Budhiya and her unborn baby. Madhav's wife had "grown cold. Flies were buzzing on her face. Her stony eyes had rolled upwards. Her whole body was covered with dust. In her stomach, the baby had died." The narrator's description highlights the horror of Budhiya's untimely death, which perhaps could have been avoided if Ghisu and Madhav had tried to help her. The narrator's cold, removed language also reflects Madhav's apparent lack of care about the deaths, as well as the broader inhumanity of a society in which such a death seems almost commonplace.
The feast (Visual and Olfactory Imagery)
Ghisu recalls a wedding feast that he attended long ago. His detailed description of the many traditional Indian foods that he consumed in large quantities highlights how special this event was for him. Ghisu recalls eating "puris made with real ghi," chutney, raita, three kinds of green vegetables, a flavorful stew, yogurt, "hot, round sweet-smelling pastries," and more. He also describes how the food and drinks were so abundant that people ate so much they couldn't even drink water, and even when they tried to push the trays away with their hands the servers insisted on giving them more. Ghisu's detailed, vivid imagery of the feast emphasizes how important this memory is for him, because it was the only time in his life that he felt truly full and satisfied.
Madhav and Ghisu's poverty (Visual Imagery)
Premchand uses vivid imagery to emphasize the absolute impoverishment in which Ghisu and Madhav live. Their hut is absolutely empty, except for a couple of clay pots. They have no proper clothing, but rather "[cover] their nakedness with torn rags." They survive by stealing a few potatoes, peas or stalks of sugar cane. These detailed images enable the reader to imagine the full depth of the men's poverty.
