The Man in Yellow
The villainous presence in the book is practically nothing but imagery. He is identified only by description since the reader never learns his name. His behavior stimulates feelings of anxiety and fear in Winnie, but there’s nothing specifically threatening about him. Each appearance of the man nevertheless has the effect of creating a sense of ambiguous menace.
His description is an ideal example of how the author has mastered the use of imagery to convey useful non-narrative information. Yellow is the light of caution when in traffic, but it does not necessarily indicate an emergency situations. Moreover, yellow is generally a color associated with happiness, but the man in the yellow suit inspires dread instead.
Summer Days
The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after. (p. 3)
This passage uses a number of strategies to convey the imagery of the time of year in which the novel is set. This time of year is "motionless and hot," wedged between spring/early summer and autumn. "Blank white dawns and glaring noons" offer a sense of contrast with the "sunsets smeared with too much color." The author also introduces a sense of foreboding and foreshadowing when she writes, "when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after."
Treegap Road
The road that led to Treegap had been trod out long before by a herd of cows who were, to say the least, relaxed. It wandered along in curves and easy angles, swayed off and up in a pleasant tangent to the top of a small hill, ambled down again between fringes of bee-hung clover, and then cut sidewise across a meadow. Here its edges blurred. It widened and seemed to pause, suggesting tranquil bovine picnics: slow chewing and thoughtful contemplation of the infinite. (p. 5)
The road to Treegap was originally forged by cows, who eked out a path in the countryside. "Bee-hung" clover is a beautiful way of expressing the tendency of bees to congregate around fields of flowers, and evokes a warm and relaxing portion of the countryside.
The Pond
The water dimpled, and bright rings spread noiselessly and vanished. “Feeding time,” said Tuck softly. And Winnie, looking down, saw hosts of tiny insects skittering and skating on the surface. “Best time of all for fishing,” he said, “when they come up to feed.” (p. 61)
The pond where Tuck takes Winnie to explain why she needs to keep the spring a secret is filled with life. Because of its part in the water cycle, it is a symbol of the cycle of life. Moreover, it is filled with small animals such as insects and fish. Winnie sees "dimples" and "bright rings" created by the busy bugs and the feeding fish; these special details evoke the scenery.
