Question

foreboding . . ., if it had not seemed so tired, slats missing from a couple of shutters, the ebony porch groaning as they made their way up the steps to the door, which came complete with a silver knocker shaped like a fist dangling from a circle. its the abandoned shell of a snail, she told herself, and the thought of snails brought her back to her childhood, playing in the courtyard of their house, moving aside the potted plants and seeing the roly - polies scuttle about as they tried to hide again. or feeding sugar cubes to the ants, despite her mothers admonishments. also the kind tabby, which slept under the bougainvillea and let itself be petted endlessly by the children. she did not imagine they had a cat in this house, nor canaries chirping merrily in their cages that she might feed in the mornings. from silvia moreno - garcia, mexican gothic. copyright 2020 silvia moreno - garcia look at the text in bold. how does the placement of the snail image after the house description affect the passage? the image of an empty snail shell reflects the unease the narrator feels by evoking eerie, lifeless imagery. the image of an empty snail shell lets the reader know that the house is deserted and that the narrator will find that nobody lives there. the image of an empty snail shell signals the characters desire to replace the disturbing image with a comforting one. the image of an empty snail shell draws attention to the narrators mental state, suggesting she feels hollow and displaced in the house.

Explanation:

The house is described as tired - looking with missing slats and a groaning porch. The empty snail shell after this description parallels the house's desolate state. It also can be seen as a metaphor for the narrator's emotional state in the unfamiliar house. The image evokes a sense of emptiness and unease, suggesting the narrator may feel out - of - place.

Answer:

The image of an empty snail shell draws attention to the narrator's mental state, suggesting she feels hollow and displaced in the house.