How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez use imagery in Eyes of a Blue Dog?

Garcia Marquez grounds his opening imagery in solid, concrete descriptions: a cigarette, the "harsh, strong smoke," the "chair, balancing on one of the rear legs," the lamp, the woman's "long and quiet hand," the dressing table, and the "mathematical light." All are familiar and tangible images that draw readers into the story and orient us to the scene. The image of the man balancing in his chair implies gravity and weight, and the possibility that these two things could work against him and tip him over. The cigarette and smoke remind us that the man is breathing and the lamp tells us that the woman can feel cold. In a dream, of course, things such as gravity, heat, and cold do not really exist, but the author is purposely trying to establish this fictive world on firm, realistic ground before he takes the readers to places they are not expecting. He locates the "realism" before he explores the "magical."