A person's eyes are the gateway to his/her soul. The eyes are a constant reoccuring theme in the story. Dubus uses facial expressions and visual images to present the character's true emotions. The pattern lasts throughout the passage and are referenced many times.
A few examples are:
- "beneath her eyes there was swelling from the three days she had suffered"
- "the eyes of his clerks and customers defeated him"
- "wishing those eyes were oblivious and even cold"
- "Matt recalled her eyes, the pain in them, and he was conscious of the circles of love he was touching with the hand that held the revolver."
Even as Strout's death approached, Matt could not look the man in his eyes. He feared that if he looked into them, he wouldn't see a murder, he'd see a man with a family. He couldn't do that because he wanted Strout dead. The author also describes the setting in a way that symbolizes that things could be calm, that he could turn around, but that is not an option for Matt. The author used this pattern to convey the tone of the passage, he used it to bring out the dark and painful emotions of all those involved within the story. It is also a very powerful logical tool.
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