ATDTDA (18): A bone-deep bellow, 505

[Paul Nightingale]

The action cuts to another departure, "[t]he tall black hull" juxtaposed to
"waves of gaiety", the latter explained by "drivers in their shiny black
plug hats waiting for the crowd to finish waiting bon voyage". A montage by
way of contrast to the previous chapter's ending: the scene-setting at the
bottom of 503 focuses on those seeing Yashmeen off by train, eg a "group"
rather than a "crowd" etc. However, if the setting at Liverpool Street lends
itself to greater intimacy, there is no interaction between Yashmeen and her
admirers, other than, perhaps, Renfrew stepping forward to hand over his
bouquet. Here there is dialogue that says something of Dally's relationship
with Kate (the former not named, so one has to infer this much from the
passage). The dialogue is in flashback, a connection of those aboard the
ship to those awaiting its departure: the previous chapter ends with
Cyprian's anticipations.

The passage begins with the ship's hull towering over the pier "like a
monument"; it ends with the blast from the ship's horn "stopp[ing] all the
pre-departure chatter on the pier". The star of the scene, passing the
audition and getting a callback, is the ship itself.