How does Ruth White use imagery in Belle Prater's Boy?

Imagery:

"It was near dawn that the nightmare came. Just like the ones before it, there was an animal, limp and lifeless, in a puddle of blood. Was it a deer? A dog? A kitten? An ugly, ugly thing was in that animal's face. The ugly thing that I could not see."

"Wounded? It was a word that touched a chord. I felt something give in my throat. A great choking sound came up from my chest."