Character Description
Imagery is especially effective in describing character in the story. Arguably, the most memorable use is directed toward a character who doesn’t even appear until well into the book: “The first time Anna saw Chip Willingham, she thought that no one had ever looked more like a game-show host than this man. He was tanned and buttery, like a quality handbag; his hair had the color and rigidity of onyx; his teeth were enormous white rectangles. He gave the impression of being handsome without actually being handsome, and she could not begin to guess his age.” This imagery is built around the fact that there actually is a recognizable sort of game-show host “look.” Immediately, many readers will know exactly what Anna means. From that point on, it is just a process of fleshing out the details of that general idea. The simile comparing Chip’s skin to not just any old purse, but specifically an expensive handbag, seals the deal.
Ups and Downs
The simplest path to using imagery effectively is usually through the concept of similarity. That is not the case in this example: “It felt as if it were possible to achieve a perfect timing. It felt like synchronicity. It felt like the opposite of a frigid winter night when a woman had jumped from an apartment building on Amsterdam Avenue and landed at his and his mother’s feet. That woman, her face, the gruesome angle of her neck like the handle of an umbrella, the earthy, copper scent of her blood mixed with his mother’s familiar tuberose perfume.” This imagery situates the mindset of what playing Donkey Kong is like for Sam long after the arcade game has lost its attraction to draw a line of players waiting their turn. This evolution of the video arcade “fad” allows Sam to transform competition into a Zen-like contemplation and for him the opposite of that feeling is encapsulated in the horror of witnessing the immediate consequences of defenestration. And yet, there is also a more psychologically complex aspect to this imagery of opposition. Donkey Kong is a game in which a little man tries to ascend a great height to save a woman from falling to her death.
The Accident
Sam meets Sadie in a hospital because his foot has been fractured in 27 places due to a car accident. A surprisingly robust number of pages later, imagery is used to describe Sam’s recollection of that crash: “Sam would remember the lights first. Two of them, like a pair of eyes, growing quickly wider, larger, seeking them out in the night. Sam would remember having an irrational thought: We’re fine, because the car can’t see us. We’re protected by the darkness. Then, the high-pitched squeal of tires, the metal crumpling, the glass shattering like a scream.” The very first image Sam constructs is the comparison of the headlights of the car to eyes. Not just any eyes, however, but the eyes of a predator on the lookout for a victim. The very next sentence following this passage informs the reader that the driver was not found to be at fault, despite speeding. This factual information only serves to intensify the predatory description of the vehicle itself.
The Creative Process
Marx’s mom tells her son and Sadie the origin story of the “Strawberry Thief” textile pattern. “This was William Morris’s garden. These were his strawberries. These were birds he knew. No designer had ever used red or yellow in an indigo discharge dyeing technique before. He must have had to start over many times to get the colors right. This fabric is not just a fabric. It’s the story of failure and of perseverance, of the discipline of a craftsman, of the life of an artist.” This true-life story produces an unexpected offspring. The midwife is an actual dream Marx has that night which he relates to Sadie by telling her: “I obey the giant bird of dreams.” Marx’s mom’s story ultimately delivers the idea of giving a video game away to play for free and instead monetizing it into a “cash cow” through in-game upgrades for players. This use of imagery that begins with William Morris standing in his garden in 1875 and ends with the evolution of video game economics is a portrait of the incomprehensibility of the creative process that only makes logical sense in hindsight.
