Description and Imagery

In The Sportswriter, Richard Ford uses a variety of descriptive passages and imagery to interest the reader and make some of his stories more entertaining. In addition to this entertainment, the imagery makes some of his stories much more emotional. The reader can feel the passion that Richard Ford puts into his writing, which is to some degree rather inspiring.

Examples of vivid description can be seen throughout the entire novel. One of the best examples of imagery describes the scenery on the way to the hospital. "Pheasant Meadow sits at the other lower end of the stubble field-a boxy, unscenic complex of low brown-shake buildings overlooking a shallow man-made mud pond, a yellow bulldozer, and some other apartments already half-built" (Ford 53). Richard Ford uses descriptive adjectives such as "boxy" and "yellow" to describe the images of his story. These adjectives paint a vivid picture in the reader's mind and really add to the effect of his story.

Another example of imagery occurs when Ford is describing Frank Bascombe (the main character) as he lies on his bed on Easter morning. "A gray, silvermane mist inhabits my room. I lie on the floor of the upstairs sleeping porch, fully clothed, my head cushioned by the boards, which are cold and morning-slicked by mist. In this posture I would often wake up in the months after X left. I would go to sleep reading catalogs, out like a light on the couch as I was last night, or in my bed or in the breakfast nook- but wake up on these same cold deals, still dressed and stiff as a mummy, with no memory of moving. I do not yet know what to make of it. Back then it didn't necessarily seem a bad sign, and it doesn't now. And though a longing permeates the cool morning, it is familiar enough, and I'm happy to lie still and listen to my heart harmlessly thump" (Ford 203). The gray, silvermane mist that inhabits his room and the harmless thumping of his heart appeal to the reader's senses, which make the prime examples of imagery. In addition to this imagery, Richard Ford uses the simile of the mummy to add to his detailed descriptions and enhance his story even more.