The painting was as conspicuous as a newly installed window, but one that looked out onto a life of color and imagination, far away from the gray factory dawn and in stark contrast to the brown curtains and brown carpet, both chosen by a man to hide the dirt.
-- Narration ("1950")

Importance: This quote describes the emotional impact that Dora feels when she looks at the sunflower painting she won at the raffle. The emotional significance which Dora places on the painting, which is far greater than, say, her personal preference for sunflowers, establishes the theme of art as a source of transcendence. Art will continue to represent transcendence in the life of her son, Ellis, who is naturally interested in the arts. After Ellis rediscovers his passion for the arts when he is middle-aged, he effectively mirrors this scene in the final pages of the novel, when he draws a field of...