Imagery In Maya Angelou's The Boys

In “The Boys,” Maya Angelou characterizes her family’s security in her grandmother’s store. Their sense of security is altered when the ‘used-to-be sheriff’ arrives and informs the family that there’s a possibility that “the boys” will drop by and cause problems for Angelou’s uncle Willie. As a result, Angelou and her brother hide Uncle Willie in the store. Throughout her narrative, Angelou effectively uses imagery, word choice, and juxtaposition.
When describing both her grandmother’s store, Angelou effectively uses imagery. When recalling memories, Angelou characterizes the store as though it is alive. She remembers that, “…it was tired. [She] alone could hear the slow pulse of its job half done” while she worked in the afternoons. Angelou

also uses imagery to describe her family dinners. She recollects that her brother, Bailey, opened a can of sardines and “allow their juice of oil and fishing boats to ooze down and around the sides.”
Angelou also uses compelling word choice throughout her story. As Angelou recalls the ‘used-to-be sheriff,’ she describes his accent as a “twang,” which suggests that he is from the south. Angelou also uses excellent word choice when describing “the boys.” Angelou describes them to have “cement faces and eyes of hate that burned the clothes off you.” She uses these words to describe the awfulness of “the boys.” She also uses the passage to describe the irony of the sheriff calling them “boys.”
To show the differences in her worlds, Angelou uses Juxtaposition to compare her two main points. Angelou uses Juxtaposition to create a higher tension when describing the events outside of the store. Angelou describes the store as her safe haven. When Angelou describes when the sheriff rides up and talks to Momma, the main focus goes from her grandmother’s little store to the family having to hide Uncle Willie for the possibility that he will be lynched.