Odour of Chrysanthemums Death Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

At last it was finished. He was a man of handsome body, and his face showed no traces of drink. He was blonde, full-fleshed, with fine limbs. But he was dead. (2.123)

The narration portrays Walt as somehow purified in death—his body shows no signs of the earthly things that sullied him in life, such as alcohol or coal dust. But yeah, still dead.

Quote #5

Elizabeth sank down again to the floor, and put her face against his neck, and trembled and shuddered. But she had to draw away again. He was dead, and her living flesh had no place against his. A great dread and weariness held her: she was so unavailing. Her life was gone like this. (2.125)

The shock of Walt's death has not only made Elizabeth feel alienated from him, but also from her own life; life as she knew it has ended for her as well as a result. It's the end of the world as she knows it, but unfortunately she doesn't feel so fine.

Quote #6

Was this what it all meant—utter, intact separateness, obscured by heat of living? (2.128)

Elizabeth seems to believe that any connection or knowledge she felt toward Walter has now been revealed as a lie; underneath all that and the mirage that the "heat of living" creates, everyone is just kind of "chilling" on their own, separate from one another. Not a very comforting thought.