Previous
Genre
Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Chapter 8: The Mermaids’ Lagoon
Explanation and Analysis—Neverland:
Barrie describes Neverland in terms of visual imagery in order to emphasize its natural features. For example, in Chapter 8, the narrator describes the Mermaids' Lagoon as follows:
If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness; then if you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take shape, and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire. But just before they go on fire you see the lagoon. This is the nearest you ever get to it on the mainland, just one heavenly moment; if there could be two moments you might see the surf and hear the mermaids singing.
Examples of color imagery include "lovely pale colours" that "go on fire." The lagoon also features various shades of light and darkness; the pool is "suspended in the darkness" before becoming "so vivid" it seems to be in flames. Auditory imagery abounds, as well, as the narrator describes the mermaids' singing and "strange wailing cries." The combination of visual and auditory imagery creates a rich tapestry of sensory details that makes the mermaids seem more real. The novel's sensory imagery makes a nonexistent world more tangible. Neverland does not really exist, so the author must build his magical world with the tools of figurative language to make his story come to life.
Related Themes:
Chapter 12: The Children Are Carried Off
Explanation and Analysis—"Savage Warfare":
Peter Pan contains many examples of auditory imagery. The following passage from Chapter 12 shows how Barrie uses it to describe the way in which Tiger Lily's tribe wages war on the pirates:
[...] the savage scouts wriggle snake-like, among the grass without stirring a blade. The brushwood closes behind them, as silently as sand into which a mole has dived. Not a sound is to be heard, save when they give vent to a wonderful imitation of the lonely call of the coyote. The cry is answered by other braves; and some of them do it even better than the coyotes, who are not very good at it. So the chill hours wear on [...] to the trained hand those ghastly calls and still ghastlier silences are but an intimation of how the night is marching.
Examples of auditory imagery include the imitation of "the lonely call of the coyote" which is "answered by other braves" and also described as "those ghastly calls" that imitate "how the night is marching." It is worth noting that the beginning of this quote uses alliteration ("the savage scouts wriggle snake-like [...] silently as sand"), which in turn enhances the auditory imagery and suggests the physical cohesion of the band of savages. This passage also emphasizes the absence of sound: "silently as sand...", "ghastlier silences." The juxtaposition of sound and silence heightens the effect of the tribe's coyote calls and gives the impression that they have complete control over their own bodies but also over the landscape of Neverland itself. In this passage and a few others, an emphasis on sound (or lack thereof) creates a sense of fear and foreboding around the tribe of so-called "savages."
Related Themes:
