Description of the city of Alexandria
On page 20 of the novel, the narrator describes Alexandria as,”.... Long sequences of tempera. Light filtered through the essence of lemons. An air full of brick dust — sweet smelling brick-dust and the odor of hot pavements slaked with water. Light damp clouds, earth-bound yet seldom bringing rain. Upon this squirt dust-red, dust-green, chalk-mauve and watered crimson-lake. In summer the sea-damp lightly varnished the air. Everything lay under a coat of gum.” The narrator uses descriptive words, adjectives to bring about imagery in this description. These words include, ‘dust-red’ and ‘chalk-mauve.’
Description of the happenings of six o’clock in Alexandria
He says,” Six o’clock. The shuffling of white-robed figures from the station yards. The shops filling and emptying like lungs in the Rue des Soeurs. The pale lengthening rays of the afternoon sun smear the long curves of the Esplanade, and the dazzled pigeons, like rings of scattered paper, climb above the minarets to take the last rays of the waning light on their wings. Ringing of silver on the money-changers’ counters. The iron grille outside the bank still too hot to touch. Clip-clop of horse drawn carriages carrying civil servants in red flowerpots towards the cafes on the sea-front. This is the hour least easy to bear...” The narrator in this instance has used both descriptive words and similes to achieve imagery. The effect of the imagery is that it creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind of six o’clock.
Imagery to show how he Damascus love song was sung
The narrator overhears someone singing the love song and describes the was it was sung as,”… the nasal chipping of the Damascus love song; shrill quarter tones like a sinus being ground into powder.” This description has imagery because the reader can visualize or almost hear the song being sung because of the description. The simile,’ ….like a sinus being ground into powder.’ brings about imagery for it likens how the song was sung to the grounding of sinus into powder.
Description of the old furrier
While the old furrier was threatening Darley’s life by following him around while carrying a gun, Darley describes him as,” I could not bear to look at that heavy pock-marked face with its bestial saturnine cluster of tormented features smeared on it — could not bear to think of his gross intimacies with her: those sweaty little hands covered as thickly as a porcupine with black hair.” The narrator has used both descriptive words such as,’ heavy pock marked face’ and simile whereby he likens the man’s hair to that of a porcupine to build imagery and to bring out the distinct characteristics of the man.
