Literary Analysis of Imagery in The Scarlet Ibis - Essay Example

The first scene contains a number of imagery, which readers can easily interpret through sensory experience. The visual symbolism in the bleeding tree, the silvery powder and the purple phlox are examples of imagery, which connote the fate facing different characters throughout the story. In addition, Hurst (1) uses olfactory imagery in his presentation of the flowers blooming at the graveyard, which he says produce smell that extends to the length of the cotton plantation. The author’s assertion that the plants rot brown magnolia flowers is rife with imagery of the attractiveness of the graveyard, and the existence of some temporal life.

Moreover, the growths of ironweeds which compete with the attractive flowers symbolize the feeling of abandon of the dead. Apart from the existence of the plant imagery, there is auditory imagery in oriole’s beautiful melodies in the elm (Hurst 1). This symbolizes a sense of life and excitement in the story. In addition, the green-draped parlor is rich with visual imagery of attractive vegetation, fair weather, and rich soils, supporting the plants’ and animals’ lives. Doodle in itself is a name that brings out the visual imagery of the small doodle-bug that naturally walks backwards.

This implies the character is one who would never tire of going the opposite direction on social issues affecting him and the immediate environment where he stays (Hurst 2). Further, Hurst’s use of a deafening thunder and mournful sound symbolizes the existence of powers, which are beyond the existence of animals and plants. The latter auditory imagery symbolizes mortal nature of living things on earth, even when they are seen as blossoming and death is seemingly not in sight. The two forms of imagery are complimented by the visual imagery in the green-draped parlor, which is by its description