Upon review, the narrator implies that the politicians will be “hurt” if they choose to delay necessary change. The word “hurt” shows the desperation of the public by associating the lack of change with pain. The apparent rift between the citizen and politicians only widens upon a viewing of the lines, “there’s a battle outside and it is ragin’ / it’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls” (lines 25-26). The word “outside” plays a role in the poem as it represents distance between the “everyman” and “the authority”. This emphasizes, the idea that the politicians are far removed from the harsh realities faced by their own citizens. By comparison, the diction addressing the “everyman” in the first stanza seems more like a warning. The lines, “Come gather’ round people / Wherever you roam / And admit that the waters / Around you have grown”, provide a feeling that is …show more content…
Some examples within the lines create scenes for the audience which may come off as harsh or even downright combative. The first stanza acts as a host to an early example of the descriptive imagery used by the narrator. The line, “Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone” is powerful due to the mental picture it constructs (line 8). The picture that materializes is one of an “everyman” that must almost “survive” the change, lest he or she drown in it by not being active. To include imagery that implies join or die, the message starts to become more crucial and worthy of concern. Strong imagery can also be seen in the third stanza where the “everyman” must take a stand against the politicians. The line, “There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’ / It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls”, implies that this conflict is a violent one that requires resolution (lines 25-26). Between this battle imagery and the “join-or-die” imagery from before, one could envision a much grander conflict that seems war-like in comparison. Imagery can often be quite effectual in writing in deriving the deeper meaning behind the words. In recall, imagery was used to illustrate the harsh struggle for change. In “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, by Bob Dylan, diction, tone, and imagery were used to describe a struggle for change between those in power and