How does the author use imagery in the novel, The Wind Knows My Name?

Allende draws pictures with her words as she describes the situations her characters face. For instance, the night Vienna is attacked, Allende prefaces the attack by narrating that “The stench of fear, like rust and rotting garbage, clung to his nostrils; neither his pipe tobacco nor his citrus-scented aftershave lotion could mask it” (3). Later, it is stated that “the stink of dread stirred up by the wind was suffocating, making him feel dizzy and nauseous” (3). Dread and fear are compared to a smell that pervades any attempt to get rid of it and is capable of making a person physically ill.