"I thought you might care to examine the clock. It was considered exceptional in its day."
In this quote, the narrator reveals both himself or herself and the stand-in for the reader. The tale is framed by this narrator, an unnamed citizen of the city some 200 years later, retelling the story to an unsuspecting visitor who waits for his carriage.
It also introduces the majestic clock in the ballroom for the first time. Though they later describe the clock in great detail, the very first time the reader's attention is brought to the clock, it is seemingly harmless and nothing of note. The narrator emphasizes that the clock's prime has long passed. While they tell the story of the city's downfall, the narrator frequently returns to the image of the clock, putting it in the center of the story.
Right at the end, after the narrator has told their tale, they come back to the clock again, reminding the reader of its magical nature. Seemingly prompted by the visitor, the narrator laughingly rejects a comparison to Death, drawing on the imagine of Death on the clock. After listening to an entire story about the deceit in appearances, this fills the visitor with more dread than reassurance.
"And either that gentleman has more power than he is credited with or else the symbols of God are only as holy as the men who deal in them, for she embraced the cross and it left her unscathed."
Ashella's mother has just been discovered to be a witch and, in order to save Ashella, instructed her to pretend to have been bewitched. Ashella's performance is very convincing and, after saying a quiet prayer to Satan to protect her, she even touches a cross.
This is enough for Ashella's father and the rest of the men to believe that she is innocent. Foolishly overestimating their god's power (or their own) and underestimating Ashella's cunning will ultimately bring down not only these men but the entire city.
Satan is, in this quote, called a "gentleman" and is the only male not characterized as bad and/or foolish in the story. His power, much like Ashella's herself, is underestimated by the men in power, which will eventually be their downfall.
"Not that the new mother did not try to be pleasant to the girl. And the new sisters, their hearts grieved by her condition, went to great lengths to enlist her friendship."
When The Clock Strikes is a darker retelling of Cinderella and, as such, needs to feature a stepmother and two stepsisters. In this instance, the original trope of an evil stepmother gets entirely subverted. Her stepmother is very nice and caring and both stepsisters try very hard to befriend her. They eventually all give up on her, though this comes as a consequence of Ashella's utter resistance to their kindness. Instead of putting her in her seemingly miserable state, all three women actively try to get her to let go of her Ashella-persona and be a part of the family.
