The Comet and the Night Sky
In this passage, Perry uses powerful imagery to describe the appearance of a comet in the night sky: "It is here. It is risen. It drifts above the pricking skyline and emerges in the darkening sky like something rising to the surface of deep water. Thomas stands. The tin drops from his lap and opens and lets loose the scent of roses. 'Oh, look,' says Thomas with joy indivisible from loss. 'Look.' His eyes are latched to it as if by hooks: he is in pain." The comet is compared to something mysterious and otherworldly. It creates a sensory experience that ties in the natural beauty and the surreal. The comet’s rise is also associated with emotional pain as the description intertwines physical pain with emotional vulnerability.
The Dying Oak
"No mist now. Late sun suspended in its decline; all things visible. “Just some tree,” said Grace, standing now at the foot of an immense oak dying of time or some other malady. Its trunk was split open, and its upper limbs were bare as bones; here and there the lower branches looped into the soil and out of it, and were dying off or coming into bud." This imagery of the oak tree presents a striking depiction of decay and renewal. Its trunk "split open" and limbs "bare as bones" conjure up images of frailty and destruction, while the branches looping into the soil offer a paradoxical sign of life. This duality of death and life in the same tree becomes a metaphor for the cycles of nature and human existence.
The Moonlit Scene by the Lake
"Nathan is here. Nathan was early, and has cut himself while shaving. He sits mute beside Thomas with his hands on his cane, and his body trembles sometimes with pain, or December, or anticipation. 'She’ll come,' says Thomas, 'she’ll come,' but in fact moment by moment he grows uncertain—might it be better if she stays in her room by the three-bar fire with her dressing gown on, might it be better if she has her pride?" Here, Perry employs a subtle interplay of light and shadow to reflect inner turmoil. The mention of Nathan trembling builds a scene where physical discomfort intertwines with emotional anticipation. Additionally, the contrast between the warmth of the imagined "three-bar fire" and the cold December night underlines the emotional coldness and isolation of the scene.
Maria Văduva’s Letters and the Burning Fire
In this passage, Perry vividly captures the destruction of Maria Văduva’s letters: "With difficulty the girl pulled a handful of papers from her pocket, threw these on his desk, and rubbed her hands together with the motion of a fly. Thomas looked at the documents. They were foxed and buckled, and by the light of his desk lamp he made out familiar handwriting in familiar ink: I do confess myself to myself: MV…Burning ash blew across the desk, and he patted at it; the fire had consumed itself, and the letter was gone to illegible air." The papers show the wear of time emphasizing their fragility and historical weight. As the fire "consumed itself," the act of burning becomes irreversible, which turns the documents into "illegible air." This imagery suggests the futility of trying to preserve or recover the past.
