Armageddon
Ruth explicates, “The reason we were with Mama that day was because it was a snow day. School was canceled, but we were too little to stay alone in our apartment while Mama went to work—which she did, through snow and sleet and probably also earthquakes and Armageddon.” Armageddon is emblematic of unfavorable meteorological conditions which would not permit standard school activities to transpire; the snow is comparable to the figurative Armageddon due to the coldness that it stimulates. Humans must be armed with warm clothes and resilience failure to which they will succumb to the Armageddon which the 'snow and earthquakes’ typify.
Heaven
Ruth recalls: “You two be quiet,” Mama told us, “and I’ll make you some of Ms. Mina’s hot chocolate.” It was imported from Paris, and it tasted like heaven. So as Mama tied on her white apron.” The emblematic Heaven infers that the coffee is of extraordinary quality. The Heavenly nature of the coffee is a pointer of the Hallowells’ financial standing which qualifies them to procure high-standard consumables.
Patient
Ruth explicates, “On a birth pavilion, Death is a more common patient than you’d think. When we have anencephalies or fetal deaths, we know that the parents still have to bond with and mourn for that baby. This infant— alive, for however long that might be—was still this couple’s son.” Ruth compares death to a patient to accentuate the pervasiveness of ‘fetal’ demises. Such demises are tough; hence, the bereaved must be buttressed optimally to overcome their grief. Nursing the bereaved is analogous to nursing death because the babies that they are grieving have already perished.
