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The symbolism that is alluded to throughout the novel, in my opinion, is the true lens. Those who pay close attention will see that the author connects Louisa and her fiancé Joe to their dog. The themes of accountability and independence are presented by Wilkins. In the narrative, Louisa was left on her alone to experience the loss of both mother and brother. This demonstrates the independence Louisa obtained through supporting herself and living on her own for many years prior to Joe's return. Louisa's ability to take after of her home and keep it in good shape demonstrates her independence and ability to live alone.

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True Lens

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Louisa has a lot of suppressed feelings. I think she descended into this obsession with hygiene. She was left to grieve alone because Joe had been in Australia and her mother and brother passed away around the same time. Cleaning is good for the mind since it releases endorphins and sharpens focus. Living a "lavish" lifestyle and maintaining a spotless home may have helped Louisa cope with the loss of both her mother and brother.

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Obsessive neurosis affects Louisa. It's a neurotic illness characterized by recurrent urges to engage in ritualistic activities. Louisa's obsessive neurosis is the result of a constant tension between her repressed anxieties and her unconscious latent desires. In many of the story's scenes, Louisa is seen maintaining her home in immaculate condition. She feels that she hasn't been ideal in her life up until a certain scene.

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Caesar, a dog owned by Louisa, is tied up because she is afraid of him after he bit someone. Her fiancé Joe Daggett is portrayed throughout the narrative as a harsh and male disturbance to her domestically feminine environment. Louisa contrasts Joe and Caesar's fourteen years of incarceration. Additionally, she owns a canary that is content to stay in its cage all the time. Both characters appear to be linked to this symbolism.

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"In that length of time much had happened. Louisa's mother and brother had died, and she was all alone in the world. But greatest happening of all -- a subtle happening which both were too simple to understand -- Louisa's feet had turned into a path, smooth maybe under a calm, serene sky, but so straight and unswerving that it could only meet a check at her grave, and so narrow that there was no room for any one at her side" (Freeman 6).

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"Now she quilted her needle carefully into her work, which she folded precisely, and laid in a basket with her thimble and thread and scissors. Louisa Ellis could not remember that ever in her life she had mislaid one of these little feminine appurtenances, which had become, from long use and constant association, a very part of her personality" (Freeman 1). This evidence gives an example of her OCD and how she doesn't think she hasn't been perfect in her life.

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Symbolism

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"Caesar at large might have seemed a very ordinary dog, and excited no comment whatever; chained, his reputation overshadowed him, so that he lost his own proper outlines and looked darkly vague and enormous. Joe Dagget, however, with his good-humored sense and shrewdness, saw him as he was. He strode valiantly up to him and patted him on the head, in spite of Louisa's soft clamor of warning, and even attempted to set him loose" (Freeman 9). This shows the connection she makes between Caesar and Joe.

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Balance Of Louisa's Mind

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The ID