Prentice’s younger brother James is obviously awkward and insecure being a novice in the crematorium as he was “fiddling with his single earring”. Without his security blanket, the Walkman, he sits there exposed, unable to allow even an element of grief to impose on his materialistic life. In contrast, his mother seems to be in control and congruous to the formality of the occasion, sitting “upright and trim” and suitably attired for the occasion. The writer’s skillful use of imagery when he metaphorically compares Prentice’s mother’s hat to a flying saucer, allows the reader to vividly visualize her profile and her classic fashion sense: it paints her sense of respect and shows her positional awareness. In the midst of watching other people, flashes of memory overcome Prentice, giving him a “pang of loss”.
Prentice has a sense of humor. Even in this solemn atmosphere, somewhat irreverently, he lifts up the moment of sadness by creating images that are comical. His mother’s dramatic black hat takes on the appearance of an UFO undulating according to her head movements and it is ironic that at this precise moment of humor he feels the pangs of sadness. The reader is reduced to sudden laughter with visions of his Aunt Antonia, “a ball of pink-rinse hair” in her voluminous black jacket, “like candy floss stuck upon a hearse”. This was a rather apt word, hearse, showing that the whole idea of death was uppermost in his mind even whilst he downplayed it with cheeky thoughts.
Uncle Hamish’s unconcerned snoring and Prentice’s father’s mental deviation from his mother’s death denotes that her death was somewhat expected. The writer compares her death to an explosion, bringing up the image of a time bomb, a countdown timer where the inevitability of time ends her life. I also noted that Prentice has memories of her in a wheelchair, implying her sickness. The prevailing overall tone of the passage reveals more of a sigh and acceptance, rather than a melancholia or hopelessness. Emotions are contained, giving proof to the commonly accepted belief that the British maintain a stiff upper lip and accept life and death in a stoic manner. My impression is that they rarely give in entirely to their emotions, even Prentice, who doesn’t attribute his “pang of loss” to “my recently departed grandmother yet was connected to her memory”. The whole scene is like a tableau where the family seems to be disjointedly playing an expected role with not much emotion.
As Prentice is busy observing and interpreting his family’s reactions, his own reactions are unfolded as well. Being in his own world, he was oblivious to his absurd mistake of wearing two different socks for the occasion, as he was focusing on remembering his grandmother instead. Ironically, though he realizes the unsuitability of his clothes worn at a previous funeral: Doc Martin shoes, Levis jeans, and black biker’s jacket, he ends up with a choice of equally inappropriate footwear this time round, eliciting a sigh from his Aunt.
All the characters seem to move on quickly, and there is no mention of tears or sobs. The black sock and white sock represent his state of mind, where he grapples between the memory of the past and the future without his grandmother. It also reveals the crossing over to the other side, a place of a whiter and purer color.
The final thought is the most significant one. It indicates how Prentice pushed his grandmother’s wheelchair, and accompanied her partly through her journey of life, “out of the house”, “through the courtyard” “past the outhouses” to “the loch and the sea”. He knew she was going to die, but he tried his best to make her last moments comfortable and pleasant, and when he took her on this outing, he vicariously experienced his future reactions towards her death. His loyalty and devotion towards his grandmother is highlighted here. When he “rubbed without enthusiasm at the black herring-bone pattern the oily wheel had left”, he indirectly and simultaneously tried to erase her memories from his future, a sign of moving on, just like the rest of his family.
