Purpose

Through Fletcher's return to his former village, the author explores the ways in which the individual's encounters with the past might challenge his sense of value and purpose. When Fletcher first arrives in the village, his disorientation is so acute that his presence in the "twisting, badly lit streets" appears void of true intent (2). Indeed, his interactions with the "young woman of around twenty," and the members of the Peterson household, further obscure Fletcher's true reasons for returning to the village after so many years (2). Fletcher's detachment from the location paired with his assumption that knocking on "a cottage at random" might elicit a welcoming invitation from someone from his past, further complicates his character's motives (2). The more individuals with whom Fletcher interacts, the more the author reveals about Fletcher's profound insecurity. In the narrative present, Fletcher is regarded as an aged "ragamuffin," and nothing but...