How does Danzy Senna use imagery in Caucasia?

Examples of Imagery:

We sat together in the tub for a long time, until our fingertips were ridged and prunelike and the water around us had turned lukewarm. It had begun to rain outside, softly, and Maria, on her knees behind me, washed my hair, seemingly fascinated by its limp consistency.

She tried to smile, but it turned into a kind of grimace, and all of a sudden I could see that she was scared but trying not to show it.

I saw myself from above that first day, saw with a rush of embarrassment what a strange creature I really was: a pitiful creature called Jesse for lack of a better name; a girl who dressed in oversized tomboy clothes, her hair in twin braids, who tapped her fingers against her lips in a rhythmic pattern, a nervous habit that looked like some religious tick. She looked old-fashioned to me. Like someone who has been kept in a box, missed a century, collected dust.