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It is these black clothes," said Strange. "I am like a leftover piece of funeral, condemned to walk about the Town, frightening people into thinking of their own mortality.
Susanna Clarke
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The speaker feels their dark clothing symbolizes death, causing others to confront their own mortality.

In this quote, the character reflects on how their attire serves as a reminder of death and mortality, making others uncomfortable. This suggests a deeper commentary on how our appearances and choices can influence how we are perceived by others, and how reminders of mortality can provoke fear and reflection about the fragility of life.

Themes

MortalityDeathFearExistenceAppearance

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a discussion about societal fears surrounding death.

More from Susanna Clarke

But when the fairy sang the whole world listened to him. Stephen felt clouds pause in their passing; he felt sleeping hills shift and murmur; he felt cold mists dance. He understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands. In the fairy’s song the earth recognized the names by which it called itself.
Susanna ClarkeRead
She doesn't do the things heroines are supposed to. Which is rather Jane Austen's point - Fanny is her subversive heroine. She is gentle and self-doubting and utterly feminine; and given the right circumstances, she would defy an army.
Susanna ClarkeRead
Houses, like people, are apt to become rather eccentric if left too much on their own; this house was the architectural equivalent of an old gentleman in a worn dressing-gown and torn slippers, who got up and went to bed at odd times of day, and who kept up a continual conversation with friends no one else could see.
Susanna ClarkeRead
I could always imagine more interesting places to be than where I was. And more interesting people than me being there. Eventually, this led to making up stories and writing things down.
Susanna ClarkeRead
All books are doors; and some of them are wardrobes.
Susanna ClarkeRead

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