Dying husband
At the end of the story "Sweat’’, the narrator described the appearance of Sykes, who by know was already bitten by the snake, laying on the floor and screaming for his wife. While Sykes cannot see his wife, Delia has a perfect view of her husband as he lies dying. This image is important for Delia who sees for the first time her husband as he truly is, a deplorable man who has no compassion for those around him and who cares for nothing more but his own safety. This image is also important because in this scene, Delia is portrayed for the first time as being an independent woman who can stand on her own two feet.
A happy family
The story "The Gilded Six-Bits’’ opens with the description of Joe coming home to his wife. The two are portrayed here as laughing and having fun with one another, while clearly expressing their love for the other. This description has the purpose of portraying Missie May and Joe as a happy couple, a loving couple, thus making Missie May’s cheating even more shocking.
The ship stuck in the weeds
Towards the middle of the story "John Redding Goes to Sea’’, the narrator describes a scene in which one of the twigs John put on the river and sent towards the seas got trapped in the weeds on the bank of the river. The image of the twig stuck in the weeds is a symbolic one, used here by the narrator to suggest the way in which many black people felt stuck in the white world around them and felt as if they were not free to follow their dreams and reach their true freedom.
What true masculinity looks like
The most important image which appears in the story "Spunk’’ is the way through which true masculinity is portrayed. This image appears in the beginning of the story and is an image maintained until the end of the story. A true man is described as being a man imposing in stature, someone who is muscular and who is towering over everyone. The perfect man is not afraid to take what he wants, even if that means taking another man’s woman. The image is an extremely violent one, putting force on a pedestal and urging everyone to behave in the same way.
