“Bliss and Bee”
Winter elucidates, “She (Thomasina) had not got over the fact that he could fix anything, that he did not let the house grow cold, that he was the last man to leave for his traplines and the first to come home to her, that he was blind and needed her, or that he had given her Annabel, a red-haired daughter whom she called my bliss and my bee.” Graham’s reference to Annabel (‘bliss and bee’) confirms that he unconditionally adores her. She is his daughter, friend and companion during hunting trips. Their lives are intertwined even in death because their demise occurs on the same day when they drown.
Orphaned
Winter writes, "They (Eliza Goudie and Joan Martin) joked, when they got together, of how easy their lives would become if they did not have to cook for men, but if these women ever lost they husbands, they would themselves be as lost as orphaned whitecoat seals." The women are absolutely tied to their husbands. Accordingly, their husbands' deaths would transform them into 'orphans' automatically. The jokes they make regarding their husbands are the opposites of their realities because the men are indispensable in their lives.
Rivers
Winter elucidates, “To Thomasina people were rivers, always ready to move from one state of being into another. It was not fair, she felt, to treat people as if they were finished beings. Everyone was always becoming and unbecoming. It was unbearable to her that she had lost Annabel and Graham, but she had borne unbearable things, and she knew how to keep going.” Comparing humans to rivers infers that Thomasina is convinced that ‘Annabel and Graham’s’ demises are not the end of their beings. Thomasina holds that the deaths are a transformation into another phase; hence, their beings would continue in another state. The metaphorical river consoles Thomasina sufficiently after losing her family.
“Science Fiction”
Jacinta questions, “ You think…a child’s sex needs to be believable. You think my child-the way he is now, the way she is-is unbelievable. Like something in a science fiction horror movie? And you want to make her believable. Like a real human.” Jacinta directs the questions to the doctor who proposes the alteration of Wayne’s anatomy. Jacinta feels that the use of the term ‘ believable’ surmises that her child’s genitals are not real ; hence , would need to be rectified. Evidently, Jacinta is offended by the doctors’ proposal.
Carnivorous
Winter describes, “ The plants were carnivorous. The moment of summer contained desire and fruition and death all in one ravenous gulp, and the women did not jump in. They waited for the moment of summer to expand around them, to expand enough to contain the women’s lives, and it never did.” Winter ironically describes plants as carnivorous due to the transformation they exhibit during the summer. The short summer offers an environment for the plants to bloom briefly and die which enriches life. Plants’ responses to the summer ambiance is analogous to the actions of carnivorous animals.
