The city of Prague
The city of Prague is the main setting of the novel, and the city is described as a beautiful city with a culture and history all its own. Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Nazis before the novel begins, so Prague is filled with Nazi symbolism and propaganda, but the old edifices of the tall buildings, and the stone roads, and the true history of the architecture still remain underneath the Nazi symbolism.
The Nazi outpost, images of oppression
Part of the novel takes place in a Nazi outpost. They get in because Lise is an ethnic German and an Aryan by race, so they accept her easily, but Dite doesn't get the same treatment. The doctors are cruel and humiliating. The guards treat him like an animal, and back home, his association with the Nazis goes against him. These are pictures of oppression and Dite's confusion. Dite's experience of the Nazis shows that—shocker here—the Nazis are very evil and cruel. Nevertheless, Dite supports his wife blindly.
Images of luxury and service
The most blatant imagery besides the obvious city and natural landscapes, is the imagery associated with service. They accuse Dite of stealing a golden spoon. Dite works as a waiter in a lavish hotel in Europe. The hotel, and the hotel he opens in the quarry, are both lavish and beautiful, and Dite's personal hotel has the quarry as a large backdrop, making the building especially beautiful. These are honorific pictures of service. The novel makes the argument through this lavish imagery that service is an honorable profession.
Naturalistic imagery and transcendental imagery
At the end of the novel, Dite finds himself retreating in the mountains. He spends his days writing, trying to find a sense of peace and closure in life, and enjoying the mountain scenery. The imagery of the mountain is also transcendental, suggesting that Dite is enjoying religious experiences on the mountaintop. The implication seems to be that the novel's plot was told almost as a meditation, at the end of Dite's life.
