Fire - “In the Village”
The narrator recounts, “But one night, in the middle of the night, there is a fire. The church bell wakes me up. It is in the room with me; red flames are burning the wallpaper beside the bed. I suppose I shriek. The door opens.” The fire is emblematic of danger. It elicits the narrator’s shriek for she feels that she could be consumed by the deadly flames.
King George - “In the Village”
Bishop writes, “King George is much bigger than on a five- cent piece, brown as an Indian in copper, but he wears the same clothes; on a penny, one can make out the little ermine trimmings on his coat.” The king’s image on the coin denotes political power. Subjects who use the currency see their king daily which enhances his popularity because his image is familiar for all.
Nickel - “Efforts of Affection”
Bishop recounts, “On the end of the bookcase nearest the front door sat the famous bowl of nickels for subway fare (nickels for years, then dimes, then nickels and dimes, and finally quarters)…After one or two attempts at refusing, I always simply helped myself to a nickel as I left, and eventually I was rewarded for this by Marianne's saying to a friend who was protesting." According to Marianne, the nickel is emblematic of nobility. Marianne judges the visitors' extent of nobility based on whether they accept or reject the nickels. Those who accept are deemed noble whereas those who don't are not.
Echoes - “Efforts of Affection”
Bishop explains, “I found her extreme precision enviable and thought I could detect echoes of Marianne’s own style in it: the use of double or triple negatives, the lighter and wittier ironies." Echoes are attributed to the 'negatives' which are employed in Marianne's poem. Mrs. Moore influences Marianne's writing style which is distinctive. The negatives and ironies result in vivid and appealing poetry.
Sins - “Efforts of Affection”
Bishop narrates, “Her (Mrs. Moore) manner toward Marianne was that of a kindly, self-controlled parent who felt that she had to take a firm line, that her daughter might be given to flightiness or—an equal sin, in her eyes—mistakes in grammar. She had taught English at a girls’ school and her sentences were Johnsonian in weight and balance.” The sins represent grammatical violations or errors which Mrs. Moore would not tolerate. Due to her Johnsonian background, she expects her daughter to be devoted to grammatical rules as one would be to the religious commandments. She is conscious of Marianne’s utilization of a grammar and would easily unearth them die to her experience as a teacher.
