What do the images lilke the bead-curtain, white hills, dry plains, etc.,convey about the incident in the short story? Mainly the subjective uses...

The most
interesting and most touching image in
the story has to do with the bead-curtain. At one point
Jig reaches out and
rolls a couple of these wooden beads back and forth between her fingers. It

is obvious that she is reminded of the wooden beads that are so common on infants'
cribs,
play-pens, strollers, and toys. The poor girl is thinking how much she
would enjoy having a baby
and doing all the things that mothers do with their
babies.

The landscape is
desolate. It seems to symbolize
the isolation of these two people in an enormous, indifferent
cosmos. In a
few minutes they will board the train and leave--but the landscape will remain
here
for millions of years after their little drama has been forgotten, just
as it had been there for
millions of years before they passed through. They
are just a man and a woman having a baby--or
not having a baby. I am reminded
of Adam and Eve getting evicted from paradise.

Jig doesn't
really care about the hills. She is just trying to make conversation. That

has been her function and concern since the beginning of their relationship. She loves
the man
and wants to keep his interest and his love. She will do whatever he
wants. What he wants from
her is to be a bright and cheerful companion. These
qualities were what attracted him to her in
the first place.