Themes in "The Sisters"

In the short story “The Sisters”, there are some apparent themes. The first is the luminosity of light. When the narrator passes by the priest’s house, the house is “lighted the same way, faintly and evenly” (1). To the narrator, this is a good sign because if the priest is dead, the narrator would “see the reflection of candles on the darkened blind…two candles must be set at the head of the corpse” (1). The narrator goes to mourn for the loss of the priest after sunset. Since the sun is no longer up, the sky is dark. The darkness represents the lack of life. In the room with the coffin, there are candles that look like “pale thin flames” (7). Here, the candles are letting out a “dusky golden light” (6), placed there by those who are trying to keep the memory of the priest alive. This light is artificial, yet it is the last attempt to bring life where there is sadness and mourning. The narrator recounts a time when they found the priest “sitting up by himself in the dark” (10). At this point, even though the priest was physically alive, he was no longer mentally connected to the world.

            Another theme is the inability to speak. When Mr. Cotter visits the house, he says some things that anger the narrator. Instead of speaking out, the narrator continues to eat “for fear that I might give utterance to my anger” (3). The narrator here is choosing not to speak. The priest, on the other hand, is unable to speak. The priest has suffered three strokes, which have left him with paralysis. This contrasts the choice to not speak and the inability to speak.

            There is also the use of color to show liveliness. When thinking about the priest, the narrator remembers “the heavy grey face of the paralytic” (3). This imagery is repeated again when the narrator sees the priest in the coffin. The priest is described as having a “very truculent, grey, and massive” (7) face. Grey is typically a lifeless color, which shows the lack of vitality in the priest.