Numbers
Throughout the book, characters and places are referred to not by their name, but rather the numbers constituting the address of the location. “813 was pretty in her way” is a reference to Ava. The number 248 is regularly used to identify another important location in the story. This substitution of numerals for names is imagery as commentary on the transitory existence of the characters in general and the African American experience on a broader sociological level.
Poor in Winter
Ava recalls what it was like making it through cold winters in Alabama when she was young. “She had the taste of blackstrap molasses in her mouth, and the sensation of Dutchess’s big spoon clinking against her back teeth.” Imagery is used here to convey the “taste of lean, late winter” which also included ample helpings of cod liver oil. The result of this maternal devotion to the lessons learned through generations of how to keep children healthy when the food supply grew scarcer was that every student always seemed to smell of fish once the weather turned cold, but also that they all managed to survive to the next summer.
Carrion
Imagery is effectively employed to make the smell of rotting animal carcasses more palpable. “Ava caught a whiff of rot in the air. The smell thickened from sweet to sickening. The air tightened around them.” This language appeals not just to the sense of smell, but touch. The odor is portrayed as so overwhelming that it even affects the air emanating around it. The rapid transition from the usually appealing scent of sweetness to something that is nauseating realistically highlights the typical sort of experience in suddenly coming across the foul stench of rotting flesh.
America
Imagery is used by a militant character to transform the American Dream into a darker metaphor. “The kingdom wants eternal life…The kingdom is seamless, it’s smooth as the glass on those buildings. The kingdom is a conveyor…And while we are dreaming, the kingdom opens its jaws and shovels us in.” The imagery here situates America as a beast built through systemic racism. The very people used to build it are those who are the energy source it constantly needs to keep operating so that the true beneficiaries of the kingdom can themselves continue to keep living in privilege and protection.
