Read the excerpt from "The Scarlet Ibis.”

After we had drifted a long way, I put the oars in place and made Doodle row back against the tide. Black clouds began to gather in the southwest, and he kept watching them, trying to pull the oars a little faster. When we reached Horsehead Landing, lightning was playing across half the sky and thunder roared out, hiding even the sound of the sea. The sun disappeared and darkness descended, almost like night. Flocks of marsh crows flew by, heading inland to their roosting trees, and two egrets, squawking, arose from the oyster-rock shallows and careened away.

What best describes the effect of the imagery used in this excerpt?

It shows the cruelty of the narrator.
It helps the setting come alive.
It reveals the fact that Doodle is tired.
It tells the reader that Doodle will die