Seclusion
A necessary element for the story to play out is the unusually intense seclusion of the character of Phyllis, who lives with her reclusive father following his retirement. “If her social condition was twilight, his was darkness. Yet he enjoyed his darkness, while her twilight oppressed her.” The narrator uses a metaphor here to situate how the daily conditions of existence for Phyllis are a foundational originating point of the events to follow. In a story that is a rejection of the idea of free will, this metaphorical imagery hints at the extent to which Phyllis’ fate has been unduly influenced by her father’s antisocial psychology.
Shakespearean Allusion
In describing how it came to be that Phyllis falls in love with a German soldier while engaged to another man, the narrator creates a metaphor out of a Shakespearean allusion. “Like Desdemona, she pitied him, and learned his history.” This quote is a reference to Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello. The title character in that play explains that he loves Desdemona in part she expresses pity for all the troubles he has had to face throughout his life. The soldier’s melancholy is also alluded to here because his sadness springs from being sent—against his will—to a place far from home and foreign to his culture.
Phyllis and Humphrey
That the reclusive Phyllis manages to land the marital attention of eligible bachelor Humphrey Gould is considered surprising and quite a coup by some in the village. “Hence when Phyllis…was chosen by such a gentlemanly fellow, it was as if she were going to be taken to heaven, though perhaps the uninformed would have seen no great difference in the respective positions of the pair, the said Gould being as poor as a crow.” The two similes in this sentence present opposing views of the actual success of Phyllis in landing Humphrey. One takes the romantic view equating true love with heavenly bliss while the other is more down-to-earth, equating happiness with economics. Somewhat ironically, it will be Gould’s decision to pursue his own free will in choosing love over gold that will come to obstruct Phyllis from having the same opportunity to pursue her own will freely.
Prison Break
Having gotten wind of his engaged daughter’s dalliance with a common German soldier, Phyllis’ father moves quickly to quash disaster by immediately exiling her to his sister’s house until the situation is resolved. “The house of her father's sister was a prison to Phyllis… when her father went on to direct her to pack what would be necessary for her to take, her heart died within her.” This is a portrait of the entire life of Phyllis in miniature. Any possession of free will is a complete illusion because every moment of her existence has been controlled by her father. The story is not just about the lack of free will, but the persistent belief in the illusion of possession.
Turned to Stone
Phyllis acting under the delusion that she has been handed an opportunity, at last, to pursue her own destiny through her own will inevitably lead to tragedy. “What she beheld at first awed and perplexed her; then she stood rigid, her fingers hooked to the wall, her eyes staring out of her head, and her face as if hardened to stone.” This metaphorical hardening of her face is the result of seeing the coffin awaiting the executed body of her German soldier. His attempt to desert and return to his home in Germany—with Phyllis in tow—has gone horribly wrong. His fate has been determined not by his own free will but by the random will of nature. As for Phyllis, actually witnessing the execution metaphorically turns her to stone for the rest of her miserably lonely life.
