"This other John will emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon, a Jack from a box, a pit from a prune, if the first John is only squeezed enough" (B).
In version B, Mary is in love with John, but John takes advantage of Mary. However, Mary cannot help feeling that John is capable of change. This series of similes suggests that Mary is delusional about their relationship and that her hope is misguided; she sees John in a different way from everyone else, and that hope for their future is ultimately what leads to her demise.
"Finally he's middle-aged, in two years he'll be as bald as an egg and he can't stand it" (C).
In version C, Mary is a twenty-two-year-old woman and John is an older, established man. Mary does not love John, and when John catches her in bed with James, he must reconcile with the reality of his life. In this simile, John laments his aging body just before purchasing a handgun and killing Mary, James, and himself.
