Student

Sean Hammond

Inspiring Imagery

The essay “Detour” by James Brown is an incredible piece of literature. The essay has fantastic imagery that gives vivid and insightful details that push it beyond excellent. It is these details that gives James Brown the power to inspire and enthrall his audience in whatever scenario he creates. This plethora of details creates a flow that the reader absolutely cannot resist, and the result leaves with the reader being forced to read the entire piece of work. If every writer used imagery the same way as James Brown, literature would be much more colorful.

There are specific details that caught me as a reader, to really give it an edge over other pieces of literature. One example of this is when Brown is describing his first heroin experience. He uses the comparison of a mosquito stinging him. I found this interesting because most people would not enjoy being stung by a mosquito, but Brown continues by saying that he sank into himself. Brown writes, “and then I felt it, the needle, like the sting of a mosquito. It was as if I was sinking into myself, and for a moment, instead of feeling pleasure, I panicked, because i didn’t know where or how far it was taking me” (par. 5). Moreover, I found Brown’s description of his brother, Barry’s, death to be graphic. Just the knowledge of what kind of gun he used and having to watch him blow himself up over and over again seams horrible. Brown recalls, “In my dreams I am beside our brother when he pulls the trigger of a .38 Smith & Wesson, the barrel in his mouth. I reach for your hand. I reach for his. You look at me and smile. Then... i watch the image of our brother recoiling from the blast” (par. 8).

The images Brown creates paint the portrait of the people in his story with concrete details. Brown describes his brother at the age of twenty-seven. Brown tells us that his brother has become a successful actor, but he drinks heavily. This drinking leaves his body taxed and leaves...