Th impact of the music played by Hang's roommate on her
The narrator vividly explains the impact of the music that Hang's roommate played on the record player she had purchased earlier on. The description brings to the reader's attention the ambient nature of Hang's surroundings, as well as her fear and nostalgic feelings:
"The song echoed blue and icy through our space. Outside, the sun shone, but here, I could feel the chill of exile under my skin, in my bones. The song resonated like the thinnest thread of silver lost in the blue of the sky. I followed it and felt myself pulled back to the edge of the earth, to a familiar river and a beach of blinding white sand. A ripped sail tossed amid the waves, buffeted by the sharp, anguished cries of migratory birds as they prepared for flight" (Paradise of the Blind, 14).
The description of the woman Hang bumped into
At the entrance to the Russian railway station, Hang accidentally bumps into a woman. After the woman glares at her and she apologizes, she describes her actions as the woman walks away from her:
"She continued on her path as if she hadn't seen me, her figure tightly molded into a red velvet blouse and black skirt. She swayed and gave off a flowery perfume as she walked straight ahead, her head tossed back..." (Paradise of the Blind, 15).
The image of Hang
After Hang bumps into a Russian woman at the train station, she notes that the woman is probably in her mid-twenties like she herself. In order to convey to the reader the apparent differences between her own image and that of the Russian woman, Hang vividly describes her own reflection from a window in the train station. The description serves the purpose of enabling the reader to develop an image in their subconscious of the impact of Hang's life on her physical appearance:
"I caught a glimpse of my own reflection in the window: a pale young woman with a lost, worried expression, stooped shoulders, and cheap maroon wool suit. A frightened human being of about eighty-two pounds" (Paradise of the Blind, 16).
The image of the provincial station
After the train arrives in a provincial station, Hang describes it vividly. The rather graphic description of the station serves the purpose of introducing the setting of that particular scene, in addition to creating an image of the same in the reader's mind:
"We had arrived in a provincial station. It was a picturesque little town, quiet, tranquil. The houses seemed to flow out of the hillside, each one different from the next, exuding a timeless softness, like the memory of an old love. The walls shone white in the feeble light of the moon. Along the roads, rows of trees swayed, filtering the golden light over the summit of the hills. A purplish haze hung over the valley below. The main road scattered into smaller roads, which snaked and then vanished into the infinite green" (Paradise of the Blind, 34).
