The Heat of the Day

This section of the novel includes climactic relational conflict between Stella and Robert, when his role as an enemy spy is finally confirmed. It is also the climax of Stella’s internal conflict, forcing her to wrestle with Personal Versus National Loyalty.

Bowen represents Stella’s thoughts using visceral descriptions of her body and mind. For example, before she confronts Robert, she thinks about her feelings: “The fatigue of the long day’s journey had, while it numbed her body into a trance, reduced her mind to one single thought: she was fixed upon what she meant to say. Her hope that Robert would come to meet her had become the hope that she might speak soon” (201). Stella feeling as though she is in “a trance” emphasizes the surreal situation she is facing, in which she knows she might discover an unpalatable truth about Robert once and for all. Similarly, Bowen details the shift in the atmosphere after Robert's sister, Ernestine, exits the car: “The atmosphere of the cushioned darkness, however, was still uncertain; the change down from three to two persons being hardly ever simple” (208, emphasis added). In place of the intimate, easy closeness the two formerly enjoyed, there is now a sense of awkwardness and tension that marks a permanent shift in their dynamics.  

As the tension of the novel peaks with intricate social interaction rather than landmark plot events, Bowen includes detailed descriptions of body language and verbal clues to reveal aspects of their inner states. For example, Robert speaks “with frozen irony” when Stella asks how she should know what is true; when he suggests that she must respect Harrison’s opinion by taking him at his word, “[b]y silence she tried to wave that aside” (213). Since Robert has not yet admitted to being a spy at this point in the narrative, Stella begins to doubt herself. The issue of Personal Versus National Loyalty becomes further complicated when Robert turns the accusation on Stella, suggesting that because she did not attempt to turn him in, she has not “shown any very great patriotic fervour” (214). The fact that Harrison is himself morally ambiguous—given that he appears to be on the side of the Allied forces, but is essentially blackmailing Stella into sleeping with him—emphasizes the idea that doing the right thing is not necessarily straightforward.

In addition to tense personal interactions, Bowen drives the suspense and pacing of the novel through unexpected scene transitions. For example, after Roderick visits Nettie and learns that his father left Stella for his nurse, the next chapter begins with him calling her on the phone. Only when they hang up does Bowen clarify that Harrison is in Stella’s flat. These quick and unexpected shifts create a sense of disorientation, creating a subtle sense of momentum in spite of the narrative’s focus on intricate rather than drastic plot events. Similarly, this type of transition foreshadows the fact that the dramatic climax of the novel—Robert’s death—will occur in the transition between chapters rather than within the narrative itself. In this, Bowen emphasizes the idea that the real crux of life lies in seemingly minor interactions that add up to more, rather than the big, drastic events.