Mira as a Symbol of Happiness
Mira is the mistress of Colonel Pargiter, she represents happiness and love for him. This is because at home, Mr. Pargiter's wife is sick and dying; therefore, his house is gloomy and he is weary of waiting for her to die so that he can resume his normal life. At certain times, Mr. Pargiter visits Mira who raises his spirits.
Eleanor as a Symbol of Security to the Other Children
Eleanor is the oldest child in the family. She was twenty years old when her mother passed on. Eleanor takes over the role of her mother and her father who is mostly absent from home and she raises her younger siblings.
Allegory of life
As the first chapter is about the death and sickness of Mrs. Pargiter, there are two allegories of the life of human beings. The first is that it is like a smile which comes across a person's mouth and quickly fades away just like the life of Mrs. Pargiter. The second was by Cousin James during the funeral where he said that, 'And fade away suddenly like the grass, in the morning it is green, and groweth up, but in the evening it is cut up, dried and withered.' This allegory shows that the life of a human being is for a short period of time.
Symbol of Death
On the day that Mrs. Pargiter died, it was a gloomy day because it was raining at night. The rain is a symbol of death for it started raining when Mrs. Pargiter 's condition was worsening. It rained for a short period of time till she was gone and the family was composing itself.
Motif of Internal Conflict
There is internal conflict in the minds of various characters. These characters include Delia whose conflict was that she was pretending to be sad when her mother died, and she was wondering whether her father and siblings were pretending as well. Mr. Pargiter is also found to have internal conflict on what to do once his wife dies. Eleanor also has an internal conflict when she is on a bus on the way to a meeting; she wonders whether the small shops that are located next to the big ones get enough income to get by. The internal conflict shows the reader the thoughts of various characters.
