The imagery in Hugo Martinez-Serros's short story "Distillation- creates a vivid description of the difficult obstacles this family overcomes in order to survive. For example, the visual images of, "Far beyond the fence, their smoking stacks thrust into the sky, the steel mills took an appearance of enormous, black steam driven vessels- (135), and "His [father's] back and arms were a mass of ugly welts, livid flesh that had been flailed again and again until the veins beneath the skin had broken- (141), produce the effect of fear and pain. The steel mills, being tall and black, would scare a small child and having so many bruises would cause a lot of pain. Other imagery in this story like auditory images of "A bolt of lightning ripped the sky and a horrendous explosion followed- (139), and " we screeched and I could feel my body pucker- (137), create the feelings of panic and tension. Lightning and explosions make people panic and when a body "puckers- it quivers and gets tense. Further imagery is added with tactile images such as " Lázaro foundered on a spongy mass, fell through it, and disappeared- (138), and " bits of damp earth clinging to our hands - (138), help make the picture of dirt and poverty. After Lázaro fell he came back up and had to shake off the rotting pieces of stuff and when the family picked up the water jug and had dirt on their hands, they seem poor and dirty. Powerful images help to evoke an emotional response to the family's experiences and create a tone of anguish, horror and sympathy.
