Alasdair Gray depicts one simple theme in his piece with rather compact yet symbolic usage of words. The narrator, is looking at Duncan, Marjory, and Thaw as if one knows every moment within the novel. (third person omniscient) By observing specific moments of the characters, narrator indirectly implies the theme: we can overcome with emotion and be deceived. (over flow of emotion)

(missing a topic sentence) In the first part, Gray portrays a mysterious atmosphere with ‘semi-duck’ church, where the story is fundamentally taking place. The ‘semi-dusk’ exemplifies the untouched and mysterious air that symbolizes the loneliness of Duncan rather than symbolizing an artisan. Nevertheless, Lenzie is the opposite place of happiness and delight. This is due to the fact that Lenzie is the place where Marjory and Thaw starts their life while Duncan is becoming miserable in the place of agony and reflection, the church. Moreover, the gallery is where the agony gets intensified, narrator describing Duncan more sympathetically, mentions the mirror as the medium that embodies the deception caused by heightened emotion, ensuring the theme once again.

As previously stated, Duncan, Marjory, and Thaw foreseeing different futures, the narrator emphasizes that what we look may differ according to circumstances. More precisely, the way that Duncan sees the mural reflected on the mirror as rather weird and strange. ‘Not beauty’ best represents the way he depicts the mural. This can be deduced into two primary causes. On the one hand, he was painting fine until the news of the marriage between Marjory and Thaw became evident. On the other hand, the mural itself has never been affected by all causes, yet, it is Duncan saying that the mural is ‘Not beauty’. Either way the fact that matters is that the heightened emotion of Duncan due to the news of marriage has altered the way he looks while the mural stays unaffected. Nevertheless, Marjory and Thaw are nothing more than a medium while Duncan alone, creating imaginary situation out of his thoughts. Hence, the fact that Duncan loved Marjory becomes evident and now calling Marjory as Mrs. Thaw’s corpse shows how his look of Marjory dramatically changed and that the look of mural could be different. Hence, Duncan is the only one overcame by his own emotions into these thoughts as well as the beauty of the mural.

Moreover, Gray portrays each actions of the characters to elaborate on what each characters symbolizes. ‘How the man peered up through the ladders’ is an unusual way to welcome someone while this action shows how timid Duncan is. In addition to this, the whole situation of Duncan painting a mural in the ‘semi-dusk’ atmosphere in the church alone indirectly shows a man of loneliness instead a man of artisan. While Duncan, with unenergetic movement, was told from Marjory whom he loves that ‘this is not your usual style of work’. Marjory’s action briefly tells how Duncan used to paint when Marjory and Duncan was close as a couple.(커플얘기 언급) However, the styles being changed implies that the loneliness that came upon Duncan rises as a factor that changed his way of painting. Also, Thaw, not knowing the simple reason of Duncan’s painting in the dark mentions marriage that strikes Duncan even more. Thaw’s action leads Duncan to look at the mural reflected on the mirror as ‘Not beauty’. Therefore, the words and actions from both Marjory and Duncan nails the pain into Duncan’s heart, raising emotions, deceiving Duncan to see the unaffected mural as ‘Not beauty’.

The Narrator mainly focused on how a man can change and be tricked on his own with heightened emotion. This theme could have been made due to the fact that the characters and the tone of their voice and action was very clear to interpret. The way Duncan says ‘No no, No no’ is the critical factor that describes the character as highly obsessed with the ex-love and the mural. Nevertheless, Thaw with energetic voice and the tone of his strength can be felt when he is saying ‘very impressive, very impressive’. Though he has an ‘untutored eye’ in painting, he does know how to appreciate a man’s hard work. Most importantly, Duncan repeatedly mentions ‘Not beauty’ where he knows for himself that the mural itself has nothing to do with ‘Not beauty’, but, Mrs. Thaw’s corpse is the reason that blindfolded him from viewing the mural as ‘Not beauty’.

In the end, the narrator summarizes the life of Duncan very miserable, torn heart by love, torn again by Thaw’s words, and torn again by realizing how unfortunate he is. Therefore, his whole life, the painting even looks as ‘Not beauty’ because he was overcome by his own life and emotion.