The Imagery of Gwen's appearance in the kitchen
As Gwen prepares supper, Dana who is also the narrator describes her appearance in a way that enables the reader to visualize the same in their own minds. This makes the story interesting as well as appealing. She says: "In the kitchen, my mother placed the bowls and plates on the glass table in silence. She wore her favourite apron that James brought back from New Orleans. On the front was a drawing of a crawfish holding a spatula aloft and a caption: DON’T MAKE ME POISON YOUR FOOD! James took his place at the head of the table and polished the water spots from his fork with his napkin."
Gwen's description
The narrator presents a description of her mother's appearance based on her mother's own inclination with regards to the same. She says her mother had an "ordinary Negro girl's face, the kind of medium-dark skin tone that no one called anything but 'brown-skin'." On reading this description, it elicits the creation of a mental image in the reader's mind that facilitates the conceptualization of the true form of the character in question. The reader is able to see her as a black woman. She continues to present an image of her eyelashes: "Her eyelashes, in her opinion, were her best feature; she gestured with them, the way other people talked with their hands. Everyone else, she knew, would say that the key to her looks was her head of hair, long and thick, that reached past her shoulder blades."
The image of James Wutherspoon
The narrator presents her father as being quite short. She says, "[my father] was a bit on the short side and wore glasses thick as a slice of Wonder Bread." This particular presentation of James with thick glasses enhances the reader's mental image of him in a way that makes the story interesting. He further emphasizes the man's character by presenting it as "upright." She says: "...there was an uprightness about him that inspired a brand of respect."
The image of Gwendolyn lying on Dana's bed
When Dana tries to fix papers into her missing teeth, her mother catches him in the process of filling the spaces up. The narrator then goes on to describe how she lay on the chaise lounge. She says, "Mother had been lying across my bed, like a goddess on a chaise lounge, but when I said that she snapped up." Dana's presentation of her mother in this way enhances the creation of a mental image of the same in the mind of the reader a situation which enhances the story making it more appealing.
