Sticking Out and Fitting In
Ash Templeton is a Talto, a member of a race that built Stonehenge. And he has been the last surviving member of that race for some time. Although mostly resembling human begins, one physical attribute has presented a problem. “A creature seven feet in height can't avoid the eyes of people. That had been true forever. But a rather amusing thing had happened in the last two hundred years. Human beings had gotten taller! And now, the miracle of miracles, even at his height, he did not stand out so very much.” The imagery shows up mere paragraphs into his Chapter One Introduction and efficiently conveys important information. The most obvious, of course, is a physical description of Ash himself, but by situating his height into evolutionary progression, the imagery suggests the ancient quality of his experience. An extra bonus is the understanding that this experience has sharpened rather than eroded his sense of humor.
Mona and Rowan
Mona has developed a crush-on-teacher kind of appreciation for Rowan’s physical beauty and is gazing at her. “Rowan lowered her head as she crushed out her cigarette. A deep forward curl of ash-blond hair fell into the hollow of her cheek. Her face looked lean and awesomely dramatic. It was as if sickness and sorrow had given her the very gauntness for which starlets and models starve themselves to death.” The author is the narrator of this imagery; it is not a penetration into Rowan's thoughts. The effect is like the camera lingering on Rowan before suddenly cutting to Mona in which a voiceover conveys her thoughts that when it came to that level of beauty, her simple curves and red hair couldn’t compete.
Rowan and Mona
Somewhat like the reader, Rowan can read minds. “When you look at me, I can't read anything. Maybe it's your green eyes blinding me…Perfect skin, red hair to die for, long and outrageously thick, and enormous green eyes. Then there's the mouth, and the body. No, I think your view of yourself is slightly blurred right now.” Remember, Rowan can read minds and this is her response to Mona’s unspoken self-deprecating comparison. It is a short scene, but no other physical description is really necessary to get a full impression of what these two women look like. The imagery works not only at the level of conveying physical description but also as a demonstration of the various ways imagery can be put to use. Between this example and the one above, the literary device has been implemented through the narrative description, penetration into a character’s thoughts, and dialogue.
The House on the Bayou
A house lies hidden deep in the swamps of Louisiana. It is a dilapidated house, listing less than five degrees from vertical, but seemingly about ready to tip full over into the murky slime of the swamp. Entry into this domicile is all that is needed to bring the wrongness of this place fully to life. “They slid through the front door, and suddenly the hallway opened up, enormous, filled with the fragrance of the wet soaked plaster and the glue from the peeling wallpaper, and the wood itself, perhaps, oh, there were too many smells of rot and the swamp, and living things, and the rippling water which cast its eerie light all over the walls and the ceiling, ripples upon ripples of light, you could get drugged by it.” This description is an appropriate case of sensory overload, confirming through sight, smell, sound, and tactile imagery the visceral reality that something is very, very wrong with this house.
