Stuttering
The dominant use of imagery in the novel is associated with the protagonist’s speech impediment. The very first words of the book reveal that the first-person narrator stutters when he talks. Even though he announces in that opening line that he is writing his story rather than telling it, the mechanics of his stutter are explicitly illustrated with multiple examples of text replicating the sensory imagery associated with the difficulty of producing sounds by someone who stutters. The overall effect of these recurrences forces the reader to a greater understanding of why the protagonist is so emotionally centered on his impediment.
Obsessions
His stutter is not the only thing the young narrator obsesses over, however. While he may be deficient in forming certain sounds, he is gifted when it comes to throwing things. Naturally enough this leads to a preoccupation with the game of baseball. One particular example of efficient use of imagery manages to combine both the negative and positive obsessions within a single complex thought wherein he obsesses with the idea of burning certain sentences onto his brain in the same way words would be burned onto a baseball bat.
The Typewriter
The narrator explains that a person who worked in his father’s office once brought a typewriter to the house and left without taking it with him. This will become the very tool that he subsequently uses to tell his story. Imagery is used to make a definite connection between the typewriter as a means of telling a story and speaking. In doing so, the imagery strongly suggests that the typewriter has almost become a substitute for his voice. The narrator muses on how much he likes “the sound the typewriter key makes when it smacks the black ribbon because it’s always the same. I never know what kinds of sounds are going to come out of my mouth. If anything happens to come out at all.”
