Odour of Chrysanthemums Fear Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"Bless him," whispered his mother, looking always at his face, and speaking out of sheer terror. "Dear lad—bless him!" She spoke in a faint, sibilant ecstasy of fear and mother love. (2.124)

Apparently Walter's mother is experiencing intense fear as well, but we don't really learn much about the nature of her feelings (as compared to Elizabeth's), but that's mostly just because the mother in law isn't our protagonist.

Quote #8

Elizabeth looked up. The man's mouth was fallen back, slightly open under the cover of the moustache. The eyes, half shut, did not show glazed in the obscurity. Life with its smoky burning gone from him, had left him apart and utterly alien to her. And she knew what a stranger he was to her. In her womb was ice of fear, because of this separate stranger with whom she had been living as one flesh. (2.128)

The feeling that Walter was a stranger to her multiplies Elizabeth's anxieties in the wake of her husband's death, converting the child inside her—a companion/family member who is literally built into her flesh—into a stranger, in her eyes. So much for motherly love.

Quote #9

And her soul died in her for fear: she knew she had never seen him, he had never seen her, they had met in the dark and had fought in the dark, not knowing whom they met nor whom they fought. (2.128)

The supposed realization that she never knew her husband inspires a lot of emotions, and fear is one of them. It might seem odd at first, but think about it—what if you suddenly felt like you didn't know the person who was supposed to be your soul mate at all?