Buchanan house

• 'cheerful red and white Georgian colonial mansion' pg12


  image of America
• 'sunken Italian garden, a half acre deep, pungent roses and a snub-nosed motor boat' pg13 


  "sunken Italian garden" symbolizes / suggests complexity beneath the surface elegance.

  "pungent roses" symbolizes the strong, overwhelming nature of their presence and influence.

  "snub-nosed motor boat" symbolizes modernity, leisure, the aggressive or blunt nature of Tom
• 'through the hall of the Buchannan house blew a faint wind, carrying the sound' pg110

  atmospheric

  connotations of 'faint' = weak, insubstantial reflects emptiness
• 'the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling and then rippled over the wine coloured rug' pg13
• 'white palaces of fashionable east egg' pg11
• 'the Buchanan house floated suddenly towards us through the dark rustling trees' pg135


  personification

  verb 'floated' suggests ethereal quality

  protects them
• The house itself can symbolize the wealth and status of the Buchanans, but in this context, its almost supernatural appearance might suggest the elusive and deceptive nature of their lifestyle.

  The way it "floated" through the trees can symbolize how wealth and privilege can seem otherworldly and detached from the struggles of ordinary life.
• The surreal and eerie depiction of the Buchanan house floating through the dark, rustling trees not only paints a vivid picture but also contributes to the novel's themes of illusion, wealth, and the unsettling nature of the Buchanans' existence.
• Facade of perfection
• Wealth and opulance
• Geographical symbolism = social divide