We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtain by our own hand. And we wished to be hungry again and soon, that we might know again this strange new pride in eating (from part Eight: It has been a day of wonder, this, our first day in the forest).
The above is an example of gustatory (taste) imagery. Here, Equality 7-2521 kills a bird, cooks it himself, and eats it. It's his first kill in the forbidden forest, and he finds that he enjoys this transcending experience of autonomy and independence. The food tastes better than anything he's been forced to eat for most of his life. The imagery illustrates Equality 7-2521's wonder and delight in being able to savor the taste of roasted bird meat.
We feel it also, when we are in the Home of the Street Sweepers. But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our hours above the ground (from Part Two: Liberty Five-Three Thousand).
The above is an example of olfactory (smell) imagery. Here, Equality 7-2521 revels in being alone in the tunnel he has discovered. The air is clean in the tunnel, and he tells us that, in his opinion, "there is no odor of men" to mar the immaculate purity of the place. The imagery illustrates how special this tunnel is to Equality 7-2521; it smells clean and is a cocoon of peace to him.
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