Mold (Symbol)
Mold in the story is the main symbol, it is very clear and understandable. The Mold symbolizes humanity and its sometimes awful influence on the planet. "Is that supposed to be the history of mankind?" the narrator asked his companion, because the type of mold’s living was very similar to people’s life. So, mold in the story is a symbol of chaos, wars, revolutions and it is a sign to open the eyes on the real situation and be more careful to environment.
Mystery (Motif)
We can call this short story mysterious, as far as from the very beginning some disguise, mysteriousness, and obscurity can be noticed. There is no information about the time of meeting of characters, no names and surnames, only conversation that is also not so ordinary and it adds something strange to the story motif. We can’t understand what is happening and who the characters are till the end of the story, so all these features make the story mysterious enough.
Mockery and melancholy (Allegory)
At the end of the story, we realize who the botanist is and that he is not the botanist at all. After the last conversation of the characters the narrator said: “My companion had vanished, but now I knew him by his mockery and melancholy”. From this quote we can understand that his companion was phantom-being, but definitely not the simple botanist. Only by mockery and by melancholy people can understand deeper things and become more conscious.
