Speck
Moroney recounts, "When I was small, my mum explained to my siblings and me how we'd started off as "one speck," then become "two specks, then four, then eight" and so on, until her mental multiplication skills ran out. Delighted, we could always ask her how many specks we were at any given moment in our development." The metaphorical speck denotes the minute size of a baby after conception. Life begins with a single speck that grows into a full baby. Moroney's reflects the beauty of motherhood by visualizing the speck that could be in her womb.
Rehumanizing
Moroney expounds, "Later, she and several other officers, including Sergeant DiClemente, would insist that it was my phone call that prompted him (Jason) to get help for the women, but I was never sure about that. I believe it was only part of the reason. The women themselves played a huge role in rehumanizing him-this could not be downplayed. Maybe our house, too, played a part." The metaphorical rehumanization implies that Jason has been a monster at the time of assaulting his victim. Obviously, a normal human, especially a married man with an adoring and supportive spouse, would not engage in the decadent acts that Jason partakes. Jason's psychological instability destroys his humaneness.
Animal
Moroney expounds, “I racked my brain for a way to understand, sifting through the details I knew and searching for clues I might have missed leading up to Jason’s explosion. I found nothing. I felt like an animal. When the manic process wore off I would sink back down to begin the cycle again: devastation, grief, sobbing, then silences and numbness, then the slow climb back up to make sense of the senseless.” Jason’s involvement in a sexual assault after many years occurs like a relapse. Moroney’s inability to establish the cause of the relapse distresses her. She compares herself to a helpless animal after her husband’s criminality.
“Blind White Light”
Moroney recounts, “That night was same as the one before. My thoughts went in a million directs but there were no dreams or hopes to take refuge in. I thought of the future with dread and uncertainty. I thought of the past, which was agonizing. The pain of the present was so acute that it felt like a massive, blind white light.” The light underscores the Moroney’s agony. Her marriage and life are permanently dislocated due to her husband’s actions. The blinding underscores the underwhelming nature of Moroney’s anguish.
Plague
Moroney recalls, “On May 15, 2008, I woke up and didn’t know where I was. My sleep had been plagued with nightmares and now my pajamas were soaked through with sweat. I tried to orient myself. I saw my mum stirring in the bed next to mine and I remembered we were in a hotel close to the courtroom.” The metaphorical plague implies that Moroney’s night is not peaceable. She is agonizing due to her husband’s impending sentence. She has multiple nightmares due to the stress that she has plunged in.
