How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The kitchen was small and full of firelight; red coals piled glowing up the chimney mouth. All the life of the room seemed in the white, warm hearth and the steel fender reflecting the red fire. The cloth was laid for tea; cups glinted in the shadows. At the back, where the lowest stairs protruded into the room, the boy sat struggling with a knife and a piece of whitewood. He was almost hidden in the shadow. It was half-past four. They had but to await the father's coming to begin tea. (1.36)
The clock helps the reader keep track of the rather considerable leaps in time that take place in a relatively short time period. This is the first mention of the time, which occurs after Elizabeth and John have headed back inside to wait for Walter and Annie to show up.
Quote #2
Her mother chid her for coming late from school, and said she would have to keep her at home the dark winter days.
"Why, mother, it's hardly a bit dark yet. The lamp's not lighted, and my father's not home."
''No, he isn't. But it's a quarter to five! Did you see anything of him?" (1.39-41)
This is the second time update in the story. As you can see, not much time has passed in the three paragraphs since we got the first timestamp.
Quote #3
She looked at the children. Their eyes and their parted lips were wondering. The mother sat rocking in silence for some time. Then she looked at the clock.
"Twenty minutes to six!" In a tone of fine bitter carelessness she continued: "Eh, he'll not come now till they bring him. There he'll stick! But he needn't come rolling in here in his pit-dirt, for I won't wash him. He can lie on the floor— Eh, what a fool I've been, what a fool! And this is what I came here for, to this dirty hole, rats and all, for him to slink past his very door. Twice last week—he's begun now—." (1.77-78)
With it now being twenty to six (our third time update), Elizabeth realizes that her husband is likely not coming home (without knowing the reason). Although she claims to be giving up on his arrival, her continued attention to the clock throughout the story tells a different tale . . .