Marian enters the home, the bulging linoleum on the floor makes her feel as if she is walking on the waves, and the smell in the building is like the interior of a clock. When the mannish nurse tells Marian that there are “two” in each room, Marian asks, “Two what?” The garrulous old woman is described as a birdlike creature who plucks Marian’s hat off with a hand like a claw, while old Addie has a “bunchy white forehead and red eyes like a sheep”; she even “bleats” when she says, “Who—are—you?” Marian feels as if she has been caught in a robber’s cave; she cannot even...