Heart Valve

Janet’s father’s defective heart valve symbolizes mortality and uncertainty. After Janet’s father is diagnosed with a defective heart valve, the doctor prognosticates that he will survive no more than three months without an operation. Janet’s father decides at first not to have the operation, but doctors ultimately convince him to have the surgery. Janet is unsure how to counsel her father on this matter.

Dress Shop

The dress shop symbolizes aversion to grief and mental anguish. After her father is diagnosed with a defective heart valve, Janet becomes very focused on her interest in clothes. She spends time in a Toronto dress shop trying on dresses and buying some of them, and she realizes that she is doing so as a distraction from the mental hardship of contemplating her father’s potential death.

Planetarium

The planetarium symbolizes beauty and personal perspective...