Summary Of White Cloth By Leon Rooke

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As one progresses through life, they may find him or herself spending a substantial amount of time attempting to find love. Day after day they try to find the perfect person for them; the one they could spend the rest of their lives with. However, it is not until one turns off his or her searchlight for love, that love makes itself apparent. In the short story “A Bolt of White Cloth” by Leon Rooke, the idea that love is a noticeable, yet unexpected force is presented. Rooke used a plethora of symbols to depict love, with one of the more prominent symbols being the sun. Love can often “come out pure, without any grief to bind it”, just like a sunrise. When the sun rises, it symbolizes purity; a purity that signals to those who are struggling …show more content…

This was represented in the short story when the salesman stared into the “scorching-hot” light of the sun without “blinking or squinting”. Rooke’s use of imagery that depicted the surprise of the husband towards the salesman looking at the sun represents the same sense of surprise one feels when they find love. The literary foil developed by juxtaposing the husband and the salesman may suggest how one’s search for love affects their identity. The husband, who has already found love, is curious as to why the salesman continues to stare into the sun, despite its intensity and harmfulness. When taken into account the fact that the sun may represent love itself in “A Bolt of White Cloth” it is clear that the husband (who has already found love and is married) has a disparate perspective than the salesman (who is yet to find love). Essentially, the husband does not understand why the salesman continues to stare at something so obviously present, rather than look away. Furthermore, love can allow “some trickle of pleasure to show in [the] face[s]” of those who have experienced it. As the sun sheds light on the attributes of a person, so too, does

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