significance of The Bible

The Bible, therefore - or more accurately its being abandoned by Gladys - can be seen as symbolically representing the impotence, or lack of value, of faith when faced with real physical danger. The family Bible is the second of two possessions taken by Gladys as she flees the fire. As the fire comes closer to her, she finds herself increasingly encumbered and throws the Bible away to make movement easier. This, she later tells Grainier (when she visits him after her death), is the reason why she was killed - because she didn't put enough faith in God, as represented by the Bible, to save her.