Another way that imagery is used in “Flight” is to illustrate the old man’s fear of losing his granddaughter, Alice, and the vulnerability he is subjected to because of it. In line 53, this is clear through the writer’s words, “Obstinately he made his way back to the house, with quick, pathetic persistent glances of appeal back at her.” This tells the reader that although the old man is walking away from his granddaughter, what he really wants is to be reassured that she loves him, which she could signify by calling him back or walking towards him herself. The imagery used here is significant in the way that it represents, essentially, the base relationship of the old man and his granddaughter – he loves her so much and wants her to stay with him forever, but his fits of childish pride prevent him from telling her so; instead, he waits for her to come to him so that he might know that she loves him as much as he loves her, but she appears as if she doesn’t need him anymore because she already has a fiancé.
Imagery is also used to explain the reason behind the old man’s fear of losing his granddaughter. Lines 94-97, “’Come, now, Dad. She’ll be down the road, that’s all. She’ll be here every day to see you.’ ‘But it’s not the same.’ He thought of the other three girls, transformed inside a few months from charming petulant spoiled children into serious young matrons.” show that what the old man is afraid of isn’t not being able to see his granddaughter anymore; it’s the changes that he knows he’ll eventually see that upset him. He doesn’t want Alice to become a serious lady of the house – the old man likes her as a young carefree child who he can dote on and play with. This imagery is important because it enlightens the reader as to why the old man is so against his granddaughters marrying. It sheds light towards the main conflict of the story: the old man’s fear of losing his granddaughter.
In “Chemistry,” imagery is used to represent something crucial throughout the story. The repeated use of “Mother, Grandfather, and I” in the first paragraph serve the writer’s purpose of branding a seemingly permanent picture in the reader’s mind of the trio. This is a vital development in the story, because it makes the intrusion of his mother’s boyfriend, Ralph, even more intimidating, as the reader realizes that Ralph is actually capable of breaking the bond between the mother, the grandfather, and the narrator. Eventually, Ralph succeeds in edging the narrator’s grandfather out of the three completely, and the original trio is replaced by a mock version. Here, imagery is used to embody the narrator’s bitterness towards the intrusion of someone taking his grandfather’s position.
In the last paragraph, the writer uses imagery to show how the narrator “saw” his grandfather on the other end of the pond in the park, who is described to us as smiling and ready to reach out and receive the launch. This represents that the narrator has come to the conclusion that although his grandfather is dead and gone from his life in a physical sense, he will always be with him regardless, because they both still believe in “the launch.” Throughout the whole story, “the launch” is used to represent the original trio – “Mother, Grandfather, and I” – and their content life.
In conclusion, the writers of “Flight” and “Chemistry” used imagery in many ways to achieve certain effects. Characterizations, the overall moods, the structures of a story – all were illustrated effectively by using imagery in different ways. Therefore, the use of imagery is significant to a story, in the way that it can be applied in various techniques to achieve certain effects.
