Analysis Of Janus By Ann Beattie

Bright rays of sunshine seep through the cracks of even the deepest buried secrets and illuminate the truth where it may not be desired. The light shatters any facade that coats an individual's suppressed secret. In Ann Beattie’s piece she repeatedly echoes the title, “Janus” — a Roman god depicted as having two faces. The notion of light and dark echoes back to the title as the contrast between them depicts a two-sided perspective. Through the repeated juxtaposition of light and dark, Ann Beattie conveys the theme that light reveals the truth while darkness preserves lies through Andrea’s symbolic bowl.
Embedded throughout the piece Beattie uses several allusions to the idea that light reveals the truth. She details Andrea’s journey with the precious bowl that holds a substantial significance to her true life. The bowl, described as perfect, is strategically placed in numerous areas throughout Andrea’s life. The bowl was not only carefully placed in Andrea’s home, but the real estate agent also places the bowl in the homes she sells. In the homes for sale, she positions the bowl in several locations that only when the looker’s eyes move “away from the refraction of sunlight on a pale wall, would they see the bowl” (596). This ray of light reflects against the pale wall and catches the eye of the …show more content…
The bowl seems to only be looked upon after another item, of more eye-catching material, is gazed at first. The bowl, originally given to Andrea