The Enigma of Arrival
The title of the novel comes from a painting the author saw on his journey to England to become a poet. He saw in the painting a reflection of his own experience, uncertainty and excitement. The painting shows a port background with two men, one arriving and one native, standing next to each other. It is symbolic as it contains the main theme of the novel, which is the author’s otherness and accustoming to the new home in England while sensing a pull to his roots in Trinidad.
Jack’s Garden
Jack’s garden is symbolic because of its simplicity that shows the existence of things just for the sake of existing. Jack’s intricate garden gets flattened after his death, and it exists only in memories-a fact which bothers the author at first, but he comes to terms with the ideas of life, ending of life, decay and new beginnings.
Ivy
The chapter “Ivy” is called that because of the author’s landlords refusal to remove the destructive ivy, solely because of the fact he likes it. Ivy is a reflection of the landlord’s isolation and illness, but is also a commentary on the pompousness, self-absorption and idleness of the rich. Ivy is also a symbol of death and decay in the context of the novel.
"Ivy was beautiful. It was to be allowed to grow up trees. The trees eventually died and collapsed, but they had provided their pleasure for many years; and there were other trees to look at, other trees to see out my landlord's time."
Change
Change is the main motif in the novel. It starts from the author’s change of home and culture, to the changes of the nature surrounding the English estate he found home at. The author comments on the change as a necessary part of life and what may be an end for some it is a beginning for the other.
"But the idea of an unchanging life was wrong. Change was constant. People died; people grew old; people changed houses; houses came up for sale. My own presence in the valley, in the cottage of the manor, was an aspect of another kind of change."
