He didn't know what to do. He wished Winnie -- But Winnie was dead. Why did he talk as if she was still alive? Winnie was dead, Joseph murdered in Alberquerque. His wife June, dead, dead. What was wrong with him, that he couldn't acknowledge his dead ones? Couldn't tell Wilson and O'Casey with an easy, grown-up voice, the little stories of their fates. Couldn't say why the contents of those reports assailed him even before he could read them. Couldn't read them, couldn't in any sense read them. Under any circumstances read them.
-- Tom Kettle (Chapter Two)

Importance: In this poignant passage from Old God's Time, the protagonist Tom Kettle grapples with the overwhelming weight of grief and loss. The repetition of the word "dead" underscores the finality of death and the stark reality that his loved ones, including his daughter Winnie and wife June, are no longer alive. The fragmented nature of Tom's...