Beds and Bedrooms

Beds and bedrooms are symbols of laziness and procrastination in the novel, specifically in relation to the student and to Trellis, the protagonist in the student’s novel. Both men spend an inordinate amount of time in bed, something the student is continually criticized for by his uncle. In his novel, the student expresses his concerns about spending too much time in bed being a potential downfall when he makes Trellis’s fatal flaw the fact that he spends too much time asleep in bed: it is this that allows Trellis’s characters to take control of their own lives and begin to torture Trellis.

Five Shillings

The five shillings lent to the student by his uncle is a symbol of the uneasy relationship between the pair and the extent to which their mutual happiness is dependent on the student making a success of...