How does Harry Mulisch use imagery in The Assault?

Imagery:

"The three houses. An open space between the first and second, like a missing tooth. Only the fence was still there."

"All the rest is a postscript—the cloud of ask that rises into the stratosphere from the volcano, circles around the earth, and continues to rain down on all its continents for years."

"Even before the catastrophe occurred, Anton used to think that Carefree meant a place where cares entered freely, not a place free from cares; just as someone could think priceless meant without cost, rather than beyond price."