A Summer Day (Visual Imagery)
As summer arrives in London, the narrator paints a vivid scene of Hyde Park: "the sky blue, sun shining, the girls ain't have on no coats to hide the legs." This visual imagery emphasizes how London becomes more uninhibited and relaxed in the summer, suggesting the various romances that occur later in the section.
Piano Playing (Auditory Imagery)
Describing the music in Moses's hostel, the narrator writes that a pianist in the common area "would give you a classic by Chopin, then a calypso, then one of them funny African tune." This mixture of music from different cultures gives the impression that there is a great deal of blending happening in the hostel. This auditory imagery underscores the melting-pot quality of this living situation.
Smog (Olfactory Imagery)
The narrator describes the way in which working class West Indian families can be seen "queuing up for fish and chips in the smog." Selvon employs this olfactory imagery to create a vivid sense of how unpleasant the mixture of smells would be in this moment: fried food and dirty air. He does so to solidify an impression of these living circumstances as hard.
Rattling With Cold (Haptic imagery)
Late in the book, people look at Galahad strangely, as he remains warm when it is bitterly cold out. The narrator notes that in winter people can be seen: "rattling with cold" and "bawling and shivering." Selvon employs this haptic imagery to contrast Galahad's seemingly unnatural warmth with the brutal chill experienced by the people around him. It also emphasizes the intensity of that particular winter.
