Illustration Imagery
The overarching narrative in this short story collection is that of an ex-circus performer with full-body tattoos that seem to have a life of their own. These tattoos shift and move and tell stories; accordingly, much of the imagery pervading this collection includes colors and magical descriptions of moving images on the man's body.
Predator Imagery ("The Veldt")
In "The Veldt," the children have become obsessed with the virtual reality nursery, becoming much like the selfish and cruelly predatory lions that stalk along the walls of their favorite program, the African veldt (grasslands). Imagery of this cruelty and predatory environment permeates the rest of the story as well - at one point, the father notes that "The house was full of dead bodies, it seemed" (22).
Rain Imagery ("The Long Rain")
In "The Long Rain," astronauts are stranded on Venus, a planet of incessant downpour that pounds the body and crushes the soul. This rain is everywhere; accordingly, descriptions of the scene are always filled with rain imagery, pervading the text in the same way that rain pervades the world.
Materialism Imagery ("The Concrete Mixer")
In "The Concrete Mixer," a Martian named Ettil Vrye is forced to go to Earth as part of the invasion force. While he is there, he notices the humans' obsession with material goods and consumerist items. This obsession is evident throughout the story in the language Bradbury uses to describe the culture of Earth: Ettil walks by beauty shops, movie cameras, and many other images of consumerist culture that horrify him with their insipidity.
