after mrs Grieve's house ...

[GUEST2008]

Hi

Mrs X went to Mrs Grieve's house. She was her neighbour and their houses stood next to each other. After about an hour she left it.

Heavy purple clouds had reared themselves in the
western sky and everywhere lay in the heavy hush which
precedes the first mutter of thunder. After Mrs Grieve ’s
house her own seemed almost dark. She left the front
door wide open, went through into the kitchen where the

cat waited, and poured the milk into a saucer.

Does it mean that when she looked at her house it seemed dark on the outside (probably because of the clouds) or maybe it was dark inside and Mrs Grieve's house was light inside?

[nyota]

Could be both, but if it was only about the clouds or the outside, Mrs Grieve's house (btw, what a suggestive name) would seem similarly dark.

You know the characters better, so you can probably tell if there's some sadness in Mrs X life, and if this darkness is metaphoric.

The cat might be a hint! Stereotypically, it's a must-have for every sad lonely spinster.

[GUEST2008]

Actually it's MISS X not Mrs and yes she's sad, she's got some problems but it's hard to say what causes that darkness. I thought that maybe it was dark inside when she entered her own house.

[nyota]

Actually it's MISS X not Mrs

[...] and yes she's sad, she's got some problems but it's hard to say what causes that darkness. I thought that maybe it was dark inside when she entered her own house.

It reminds me of romantic imagery where nature and surroundings accompany the protagonist's feelings and state of mind. My guess would be it's an intentional literary device.

[GUEST2008]

So in your opinion her house seemed to be dark cause there was darkness in her life?

[nyota]

Yes, that'd be my guess.

[5jj]

I think that thre were probably lights in Mrs Grieve's house; there were not in the writer's. So, even though her house was not really dark, it seemed so in comparison with Mrs Grieve's.