Historical and Cultural Lore
Dances would have been held there; the music lingered, a palimpsest of unheard sound, style upon style, an undercurrent of drums, a forlorn wail, garlands made of tissue-paper flowers, cardboard devils, a revolving ball of mirrors, powdering the dancers with a snow of light.
Behind this sign there are other signs, and the camera notices them briefly: FREEDOM TO CHOOSE. EVERY BABY A WANTED BABY. RECAPTURE OUR BODIES. DO YOU BELIEVE A WOMAN'S PLACE IS ON THE KITCHEN TABLE?
Literary Allusion
I would not be able to stand it, I know that; Moira was right about me. I'll say anything they like, I'll incriminate anyone. It's true, the first scream, whimper even, and I'll turn to jelly, I'll confess to any crime, I'll end up hanging from a hook on the Wall. [recall Winston's capitulation to Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984.]
But the frown isn't personal: it's the red dress she disapproves of, and what it stands for. [Parallel the shunning of Hester Prynne, wearer of the red A in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.]
Aphorism
Try to pity them. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Parody
My God. Who Art in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is within.
"Blessed be the fruit," she says to me, the accepted greeting among us.
Parallel Construction
I want to go to bed, make love, right now. I think the word relish. I could eat a horse.
Fake it. . . . Bestir yourself. Move your flesh around, breathe audibly.
