Does Beth dying possibly count as a spoiler? Anyway, right after she dies, Hannah is sprinkling red flower petals all over the room-on the bed and Beth's dolls. Does anybody know what the significance of this is?
"Shepherd Book used to tell me, 'if you can't do something smart...do something right.' "
I may be totally wrong, but it seems to me that when a person is sick for a long time, and occupies the same room, that there is a kind of smell that develops. Not a bad one, exactly, like the smell of gangrine, or urine, but a kind of stale, and stagnant one. I think the rose petals and their fragrance helps dissapate that.
How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.
You are exactly right.
shareIt's just a little momento mori sort of thing. Same idea as when a person leaves flowers on a gravestone. Hannah sprinkled the petals on the dolls because Beth loved her dolls so.
Just a sentimental ritual.
shareNo, if that was actually done in the 19th century, it was to purify the air in the room, and clear out whatever smells were left from a person dying without benefit of waterproof bedding. Back then, people believed "bad air" caused illness, because "the germ theory of disease" was not widely accepted. So yes, such a room would haven aired out and possibly perfumed with herbs or something, to prevent anyone else who lived in the house being sickened by "bad air".
But really, I think it was just done to create a pretty visual image.
I doubt sprinkling rose petals would have had much of an air-freshening effect. If the room was stale or stinky, the best thing to do would be to get rid of soiled bedding, clean everything thoroughly, and leave the windows and door open.
The petals were a sentimental ritual.
Weight?
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