The imagery of the apartment
As Andrea arrives in Barcelona, she vividly describes the appearance of the apartments where she stops a situation which enhances imagery. The reader is able to visualize the rows of identical balconies as well as the wrought iron: "I looked up at the house where we had stopped. Rows of identical balconies with their dark wrought iron, keeping the secrets of the apartments."
The imagery of Andrea's grandmother's house
As Andrea arrives in her grandmothers house, she describes the state of it a situation which results to the development of an image of its unkempt state in the mind of the reader. The fact that there are cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and piled furniture creates an image that makes the reader aware of the dirty state of the house: "In front of me was a foyer illuminated by the single weak light-bulb in one of the arms of the magnificent lamp, dirty with cob-webs, that hung from the ceiling. A dark background of articles of furniture piled one on top of the other as if the household were in the middle of moving."
Juan's imagery
Andrea says that a "tall skinny man in pajamas" came to take charge of the situation where her grandmother was unable to remember her. The use of this particular words in describing Juan facilitates imagery. Additionally, Juan's image becomes more refined when the narrator says: "His face was full of hollows,’ like a skull in the light of the single bulb in the lamp." This further enhances the imagery.
Gloria's imagery
As Juan stands, a woman appears behind him, his wife Gloria. Andrea vividly describes her appearance in a way that enhances imagery. Additional, the sombre mood created by this woman in addition with the others is implicit: "Behind Uncle Juan appeared another woman who was thin and 'young, her disheveled red hair falling over her sharp white face and over the languor that clung to the sheets, which increased the painful impression made by the group."
