Literary elements are used throughout stories to add more depth and enhance the writing. Imagery is used to improve the reader's’ ability to visualize and understand a story. Imagery can occur in different forms, such as descriptions or similes. Imagery not only enhances the visualization of a scene, character, or object, but it also can establish tone, atmosphere, and mood. Imagery is used throughout “The Destructors” to improve, clarify, and refine the visualization that the reader experiences when its scenes are being described.
Graham Greene used imagery to describe some of the locations in “The Destructors,” such as, “The loo stood like a tomb in a neglected graveyard” (Greene, 7). The loo is a recurring location and detail throughout the story, and it helps to set the mood and atmosphere for Mr. Thomas’ house. When the loo is compared to “a tomb in a neglected graveyard,” the atmosphere of the story becomes eerie and gloomy. A graveyard and tomb are well-known symbols for sorrow, loss, and uneasiness, this allows the author to clearly set the tone for the story without the author directly stating it. Because of Graham Greene’s use of imagery, the reader is able to picture the loo and Mr. Thomas’ backyard, which allows them to better understand the story.
Mr. Thomas’ house is the main setting in “The Destructors.” “The …show more content…
One of these examples is, “taking it in turns they held a note upward and lit the top corner, so that the flame burnt slowly toward their fingers. The gray ash floated above them and fell on their heads like age” (Greene, 9). The words used to describe this scene, such as slowly and floated, creates suspense and gives the scene greater meaning. When the ash is compared to age, it enhances the theme of the new generation kicking out the old. The imagery used in this scene elevates the different themes and the characters’
Graham Greene used imagery to describe some of the locations in “The Destructors,” such as, “The loo stood like a tomb in a neglected graveyard” (Greene, 7). The loo is a recurring location and detail throughout the story, and it helps to set the mood and atmosphere for Mr. Thomas’ house. When the loo is compared to “a tomb in a neglected graveyard,” the atmosphere of the story becomes eerie and gloomy. A graveyard and tomb are well-known symbols for sorrow, loss, and uneasiness, this allows the author to clearly set the tone for the story without the author directly stating it. Because of Graham Greene’s use of imagery, the reader is able to picture the loo and Mr. Thomas’ backyard, which allows them to better understand the story.
Mr. Thomas’ house is the main setting in “The Destructors.” “The …show more content…
One of these examples is, “taking it in turns they held a note upward and lit the top corner, so that the flame burnt slowly toward their fingers. The gray ash floated above them and fell on their heads like age” (Greene, 9). The words used to describe this scene, such as slowly and floated, creates suspense and gives the scene greater meaning. When the ash is compared to age, it enhances the theme of the new generation kicking out the old. The imagery used in this scene elevates the different themes and the characters’