In order to create the striking image of the setting, to portray the characters, to reveal the idea, to render the general mood of the passage the author resorts to the numerous stylistic devices which help to achieve the listed goals.

Lexical expressive means are used by the author to portray the setting and the characters and to create the atmosphere in the passage. Among the most powerful lexical stylistic devices are:

·         Metaphors: “they were weeping as though their hearts would break”; “She had, from childhood up, armed them with a strict moral code”; “death is a bread winner.”; “An infinite peace, a divine melancholy, a silent serenity surrounded this dead woman, seemed to be breathed out from her and to appease nature itself.”; “those epistles which smell of another century”; “Grief and tears stopped her” etc.

·         Epithets: “a sweet soul”; “a divine melancholy”; “a silent serenity” etc.

·         Metonymy: “A few light taps on the door caused the two sobbing heads to look up” (Synecdoche).

·         Personification: “that one could feel what a sweet soul had lived in that body, what a quiet existence this old soul had led”; “My whole soul and body cries out for you, wants you.”.

·         Simile: “…an ivory hand as white as the large crucifix lying across the bed.”; “The nun, straight as a statue…”.

·         Irony: “Once more serene, the priest bowed, thinking of his bed.”; “He was red and out of breath from his interrupted digestion, for he had made himself a strong mixture of coffee and brandy in order to combat the fatigue of the last few nights and of the wake which was beginning”.

There are some cases of the author’s usage of phonetic expressive means, with serve to create the atmosphere of the setting of the story:

·         Onomatopoeia: “No other noise could be heard over the land except the occasional croaking of the frog or the chirping of some belated insect.”.

More numerous are the cases of syntactic stylistic devices which are used by the author to indicate the emotional state of the characters. The most widely used syntactic stylistic device is asyndeton: “Now she was resting in her bed, lying on her back, her eyes closed, her features calm, her long white hair carefully arranged.”; “He kneeled, crossed himself, prayed, arose and went out quietly”; “Then he crossed the room slowly, went to the window and stood there, gazing out into the dark night.”; “I feel your lips against mine, your eyes in mine, your breast against mine.” etc. Other syntactic stylistic devices used by the author are:

·         Aposiopesis: “Thank you, "father, but my brother and I prefer to remain alone with her. This is our last chance to see her, and we wish to be together, all three of us, as we--we--used to be when we were small and our poor mo--mother----”; “I have kept in my mouth the taste of your kisses--”.

·         Emphatic sentences: “It was their prop, their guide, their whole youth, all the best part of their lives which was disappearing. It was their bond with life, their mother, their mamma, the connecting link with their forefathers which they would thenceforth miss.”.

·         Repetition: “Mamma, mamma, mamma!”; “Jesus, Jesus, mamma, Jesus!”; “The whole pale countenance of the dead woman was so collected, so calm, so resigned…”; “I love you, I love you!”.

·         Antithesis: “And the memories, those distant memories, yesterday so dear, to-day so torturing, came to their minds with all the little forgotten details, those little intimate familiar details which bring back to life the one who has left.”.

·         Anticlimax: “And both of them, shaken by a storm of grief, gasped and choked. The crisis slowly calmed down and they began to weep quietly, just as on the sea when a calm follows a squall.”.

The ideas expressed through the use of stylistic devices are connected first of all with the emotional state of the characters. The repetitions, emphatic sentences, anticlimax and aposiopesis listed below are aimed at revealing the feelings of the children towards their mother. With the use of both lexical and syntactic stylistic devices the author vividly describes the shift in attitude of children towards their mother before and after the revelation of the secret. The metaphors, epithets and personification explain and clarify the main theme and idea of the story. The use of repetitions and aposiopesis attracts the reader’s attention and shows the state of mind of the characters, their grief and despair.