Stephen's Parting - Question 1

Unit: 5
HT: Analyzation
1.)


 "Day was shining radiantly upon the town then, and the bells were going for the morning work. Domestic fires were not yet lighted, and the high chimneys had the sky to themselves. Puffing out their poisonous volumes, they would not be long in hiding it; but, for half an hour, some of the many windows were golden, which showed the Coketown people a sun eternally in eclipse, through a medium of smoked glass.

So strange to turn from the chimneys to the birds. So strange, to have the road-dust on his feet instead of the coal-grit. So strange to have lived to his time of life, and yet to be beginning like a boy this summer morning! With these musings in his mind, and his bundle under his arm, Stephen took his attentive face along the high road. And the trees arched over him, whispering that he left a true and loving heart behind." (162).

Stephen is undergoing a big change, leaving the polluted, industrial Coketown, and venturing into the "green" forests and farms that are filled with wildlife. Stephen finds the change "strange" but he is excited "like a boy this summer morning!" The exclamation point shows his positive attitude and excitement. The "chimneys had the sky to themselves" which shows their dominance of the sky. They puff out poisonous volumes that infect the people and the town. Because the factories give off poison, the people are sick and infected by the factories and there is little chance of  escape because the factories never stop. 

During Stephen's departure, the sun is shining on Coketown, but there is an eclipse. In history, an eclipse symbolizes the end of a ruler or leader. Stephen was against the workers union, and he tried to convince people to follow him but he failed. The eclipse symbolizes that his leadership is over, and the union will continue.