African Bush
The African Bush is an important image that pops up throughout the novel The bush first appears in the story when Willie decides to marry Ana and move with her to her home at an estate in the Portuguese colony in Africa. Willie notices the harsh looking bush surrounding him as he arrives at his new home. Ana asks him if he will be able to manage living life in the bush and he responds yes, but realizes he probably won't be able to. The imagery of the African Bush represents the hostility and foreignness of this new world. He is in an entirely new continent with little to no knowledge of the culture, traditions, and customs. This imagery pops up whenever the environment is especially hostile.
Land Rovers
Land Rovers are a striking piece of imagery that seem to appear and never leave the storyline as soon as the protagonists arrive in Africa. These Land Rovers are a luxurious way of transportation that only the wealthy estate owners, such as Willie and Ana, can afford to drive around. The majority of the population is suffering from poverty and can hardly afford to travel, much less buy Land Rovers. As a result, this imagery is a sign of wealth and power in the novel and often shows up at times when the author contrasts the village locals with the protagonists.
Newspapers
The imagery of newspapers could be found throughout the chapters of Willie Chandran's stay in London, while he was studying at the university. While he was there, Willie decided to compose a book of various short stories and then publish them, hoping to maybe gain some fame or fortune on the way. However, his stories did no appeal to the general populace and newspapers such as the Daily Mail were full of negative reviews of the book. Every time the imagery of one of these newspapers popped up in the book, it represented Willie's failure and the harshness of the critics who denounced his novel.
Envelopes
At the very beginning of the book, during most of the early chapters, the imagery of envelopes often appeared and carried a strong message. The foundation of this imagery was caused by Willie's desire to go to a university. He desperately wanted to leave his home and study abroad, but he didn't have the money to do so. Willie's father worked day and night, contacting all the wealthy men he had met throughout his life in order to find a scholarship for Willie. Each day, more and more return envelopes came in the mail. The envelopes were all essentially rejection letters; more often than not they contained prejudices against Willie and his father because of their poverty and ethnicity. As a result, this imagery came to represent the lack of guidance and help offered to Willie as well as the idea that the world would not be there to help him.
