How Does Nabokov Use Imagery In Speak Memory

Vladimir Nabokov’s Speak, Memory is a novel written with symbolism, imagery, and metaphoric language. He writes his novel in a detail orientated structure with each chapter separated into sections. This shows us that Nabokov is a detail orientated person and wants his reader to understand his thought process throughout the novel. An example of Nabokov using such imagery and symbolism is when he writes about his bedtime ritual. Nabokov starts off by saying, “I next see my mother leading me bedward through the enormous hall, where a central flight of stairs swept up and up, with nothing but hothouse-like panes of glass between the upper landing and the light green evening sky” (p 83). This is Nabokov reflecting on his childhood ritual. His mother every night would try to get him to go to bed but he would stall for time. By doing that, Nabokov created a ritual by refusing to go to bed. He was a difficult child to put to bed. He would first shuffle his feet and drag them along the stone floor. This was to merely buy time. He would then try to squeeze himself into the nook of the stairwell banister to only find out he is starting to become too big. This disappoints him, because it will cause him to go to bed …show more content…
With every new summer, the process of squeezing through became more difficult; nowadays, even my ghost will get stuck. Another part of the ritual was to ascend with close eyes “step,step, step,” came my mother’s voice as she let up-and sure enough, the surface of the next read would receive the blind child’s confident foot; all one had to do was left it a little higher than usual so as to avoid stubbing one’s toes against the raiser. This slow, somewhat somnambulistic ascension is self-endangered darkness held obvious delights…I was merely playing for time by extending every second to its utmost (Nabokov