During the war Here, the reference is to World War II (1941–1945).
milk-dull eyes eyes dull with age and, quite possibly, with cataracts.
so shocked by the closed coffin At most funerals in the Bottom, coffins would be open. However, at the funerals of Hannah and Chicken Little, the coffins are closed because of the bodies' mortification. In each case, the closed coffin is mentioned, indicating that a coffin's being closed was not a common occurrence.
