The Study
Paul and his aunt went to father’s house after his death to get it in order. Paul’s father was an avid reader and he kept a study with many books. The study is described as , ‘He looks back at the torn leather on his dad’s old reading chair, and the way the wood floor is worn from the chair to the desk.’ The description of the study contains imagery.
The narrator has built imagery in the description of the study by using descriptive words to describe the items in the study. Some of the words include ‘torn’ to describe the status of the leather that the chair was made of and ‘worn’ to describe the status of the floor. The description creates a mental image in the mind of the reader of the study.
The Bachelor Pad
The narrator describes the status of the house of Paul’s father as , ‘Clothes everywhere. More books. More canvasses. Bed unmade. You can see the shape of his body in the wrinkled sheets….She weeps, grabbing the dark wood of the door-frame and slipping down into abundant sorrow.’ The description of the bachelor pad contains imagery.
The imagery in the description of the bachelor pad is built by the use of adjectives to describe the items in the house. These adjectives are ‘dark’ and ‘wood’ to describe the door frame. The sentences, ‘clothes everywhere’ ‘bed unmade’ also build imagery by telling of the status of the room.
The Funeral
The funeral of Paul’s father is described as follows, ‘Paul can see flames go up and smoulder reflecting off the shiny bass among the carpet. The pungent smell of incense and burning papers swirls through the room. Paul’s dad is dressed in his best suit, sleeping on a satin bed in a beautiful box with all his favorite things.’ The description contains imagery.
The imagery in the description of the funeral is built by the use of adjectives. These adjectives include , ‘pungent’ to describe the smell of incense. The words ‘satin’ to describe the material the bed was made from and ‘beautiful to describe the box that Paul’s father was lying in.
Paul's Funeral Attire
The narrator describes the attire that Paul was wearing as , ‘Paul wears a black suit, a black waistband and a black band on his left arm.’ The clothes that Paul wore to the funeral of his father are black in color. The color builds imagery for the reader can have a mental image of the black suit that Paul was dressed in. The ‘black’ color of the attire is symbolic that Paul was going to a funeral.
