Power of Imagery: Chopin, Komunyakaa,

¶ … Power of Imagery:

Chopin, Komunyakaa, and Akhmadulina Explored

Imagery allows authors to convey certain feelings for readers to experience. Three pieces of literature that illustrate the power of imagery are Kate Chopin's short story, "The Story of an Hour," Yusef Komunyakaa's poem, "Facing it," and Bella Akhmadulina's poem, "The Bride." While each of thee pieces explores a different topic, they demonstrate how imagery can bring a sense of reality to the reader. In Chopin's story, we can see Louise's freedom just as she sees it in a tiny bedroom looking though an open window. The spring air is a hint of the wonderful things to come. In "Facing it," Komunyakaa utilizes powerful imagery to express his angst when visiting the Vietnam War Memorial. The wall becomes a powerful dark memory that is impossible to shake. In "The Bride," Akhmadulina provides the reader with images that reveal the exciting and anxious emotions the poet is experiencing. Her white dress stained with the wine present the angst the new bride is feeling. These pieces reveal the power of imagery and how it works almost effortlessly in the background, creating a nuance for the reader that gives the piece a life all its own. Imagery, when used properly, is a commanding tool for an author.

In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin articulates the excitement Louise feels through specific imagery that points to freedom. Chopin allows us to see the world in which Louise lives by providing ample imagery. The setting of the story takes place in a house and, more specifically, one room of the house. The house itself is like a prison. The door is locked when her husband is away. When Louise goes upstairs to the bedroom, she "would have no one follow her" (635). She wants to be alone perhaps initially to face her sorrow but what she discovers in that room is something much more. The open window in the room allows Louise to experience a sense of freedom that overtakes her. This is best expressed with the natural setting. For example, we read that trees are "all aquiver with the new spring of life" (Chopin 39). She hears the "notes of a distant song which some one was singing" (39) and smells the "delicious breath of rain" in the air (635). Louise also becomes aware of the "delicious breath of rain was in the air" (635). As she looks outside, she sees that the clouds are parting to reveal the sun. These are positive images that make us keenly aware of Louise's discovery. As she realizes her future, Louise is "drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window" (40). Suddenly, she is not a widow as much as she is a woman with a bright future that is not attached to any one man. It is important to note that when she images her husband's hands folded in death, she only saw what they could no longer do to her. Before death, his hands were holding her back and oppressing her. They were reminders of "a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely" (40). The hands would no longer hold her back and this cause Louise to welcome the coming years. She is free from the one has held her back. Her pulse beats "fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body" (40) as she considers all that unfolding before her eyes. Nature is the perfect way to express Louise's freedom, as the world outside is refreshing and beautiful. There is no fear. The freedom, when looked at in this sense is as much spiritual as it is physical. The images in this story work because Chopin is articulating the freedom that Louise had only dreamed about. Perhaps the most striking image in the story is the image of Louise collapsing at the bottom of the stairs when she realizes that her husband is not dead. Lie and death are represented perfectly through imagery in this story.

In "Facing it," the poet utilizes imagery to take the reader back to a place that is most uncomfortable to go. The Vietnam War Memorial is simply an object but the poet demonstrates how it is much more than that with powerful imagery. The poet is simply standing before an object but it represents a tumultuous time for many Americans. As he looks at the stone, he is filled with memories and anxiety. As he glances at it, he states that his "black face fades" (Komunyakaa 1) in to the granite. Immediately, the poet dissolves into a time and place other than where he is. This image captures that sensation perfectly. The wall is powerful because of the poet's memories and he must at times turn his head away from the stone. Within seconds, he must fight the urge to cry. He wants to be stone like the wall so he will not remember. Another powerful image of a man resisting the urge to cry. He cannot escape what the wall does to him. He cannot escape it. He states that when his eyes are upon it, he feels as though he is "inside" (10) the wall. However, it is not the wall that he enters; it is his own memory. The memories are painful, however, and difficult to face. For example, when the poet touches the name of the dead man, he sees the flash of a booby trap. The wall is like a conductor for all of the memories the poet has been trying to repress. The poet's sees different, random objects in the reflections on the wall and he is transported to another time. When he watches the woman "trying to erase names" (30), he must realize that she is only brushing a young boy's hair. This image illustrates how events can become a blur and can sometimes be misunderstood. The blur is another image because the poet is essentially looking back at it. The wall is a mirror and the past becomes blurred with the present as the poet reads the names of the dead and catches glimpses of the living. When he sees the names shimmer on the woman's blouse, the names stay on the wall after she has walked away, indicating that the present does not always erase the past. The past, like the names on the wall, will always be there. The image of the white vet is powerful because the poet is suddenly connecting with another vet. This vet "lost his right arm / inside the stone" (29-30). What we do not know is if the man simply moved a certain way and the reflection made it look like he lost his arm or not. Again, we are reminded of the power of the mind. The poet is working with the images to illustrate how compelling something can be and while doing this, he also demonstrates the power of the imagination.

In "The Bride," Akhmadulina explores the wonder and angst involved with getting married and being a wife. The poet begins the poem with the image of the bride being beneath a "white canopy / of a modest veil" (Akhmadulina 3-4). The poet is "bound by icy rings" (5) and wine encourages compliments for the couple. The next image we have of the white dress is one in which it is "stained with wine like blood" (18). The poet also mentions "Chemises in cellophane" (13) along with "plates, flowers, lace" (14). Thee are images that bring us closer to the wedding event. The poet then goes on to say that she feels "both lucky and poor" (19). She feels "terror and desire" (21) as they "loom in the forward hours" (22). These images help us see the bride as she considers her past and her future. Her life is undergoing a significant change but to those around her, the change is nothing more than a stain on fabric. No one will know what lies ahead for her and even she is mystified and terrified by the prospect of her future. These thoughts are so overwhelming, she feels afraid to look at and kiss her husband. "The Bride" captures the fear and the excitement that a new bride experiences as she not only approaches her wedding but the rest of her life with this man, her husband. The last stanza, in which the chairs are loudly "set / Against the wall, eternity" (29-30), provide us with the normalcy with which the rest of the world will proceed while their lives move on a different course. This poet utilizes imagery to help the reader see the elements of the wedding event as well as the bride's apprehension.