Eating
Scenes of eating are, of course, a terrific place in which to engage the power of imagery. Imagery is designed to appeal to the sense in order to make the scene crackle with authenticity and eating involves, well, really, every single one of the five senses. How are many does the author use in this example:
“Kevin masticated sweet, fat-rich pork and thick slices of spicy, smoke-fragrant ham. He cracked nuts with a claw hammer and gorged himself on their dry or oily meats. He laid-in candy until his teeth ached and devoured oranges until the acid of their juice stung his discolored lips.”
Bathing
On the other hand, an interesting use of imagery that goes against the grain is used in the novel’s opening scene describing the mother bathing the protagonist, Kevin. This is portrayed as a significant ritual for Kevin—a character-identifying moment—but at one point, the author chooses to move the imagery away from the activity for just a brief moment in order to create juxtaposition:
“Outside, over the oozing, dun-colored fields, down the overflowing creek, through the gurgling swamps, and across the cedared hills, the wind howled like a drowning beast. Inside, there was warmth and light and the music of his mother’s hands on his body.”
Villainy
Imagery is the perfect literary tool for conveying the rudiments of a villainy. By the time one gets to the end of this introduction of two characters, it is more than clear they are not going to be heroic figures:
“Among them were two husky fifteen-year-olds in Grade VI: Riff Wingate, whose grin revealed a mouthful of broken, yellow teeth and whose breath stank of decay, and Harold Winthrop, whose face was pocked with feverish, red pimples and who liked to boast of the things that he had done to girls. To Riff and Harold, school was a ribald joke. Next summer, they would be peeling pulp or sawing slabs at the mill.”
The Dead
As indicated, this is a book that is very much about the relationship that exists between a mother and son. It is a complicated relationship, in part because the mother had the baby when she was just sixteen. A sixteen-year-old mother growing up in desolate small town where hopes are smashed as easily as dreams and bugs. Such a life has an effect on a young girl:
“Do you know that most people are dead? Did you ever think of that? Lockhartville is full of dead people. The old women cook and clean and scrub and make pickles. And all the time, they’re dead. And the men are dead, too. When I get away from Lockhartville, I feel like somebody who’s risen from the dead! You don’t know what a terrible, wonderful feeling it is, Scamp!”
