My mother always said something bad would happen.
Amanda’s way of protecting her daughter is the expectation that bad things are inevitable and that she should always be ready to save her. This premonition not only shows the paranoid nature of motherhood, as the main theme of the novella, but also drives the horror aspect of the plot, the dread and movement towards disaster.
It’s the worms. You have to be patient and wait. And while we wait, we have to find the exact moment when the worms come into being.
The novella opens up with the discussion about worms between Amanda and David. Worms hold a significant symbolic place in the novella. They inspire dread and disgust, danger and disease, and are symbolic of decay. It is not surprising that it opens up with the symbolism of worms, because they are related to the main thematic developments of the novella.
What makes you think I can’t see?
This is what Amanda asks David as their dialogue progresses, and David questions whether she can see him. David is a little boy, but he is also something else, an antagonizing entity, so the dread that comes with this question is tangible.
