“The Bronx River flowed right through the zoo’s land; the snake of dark water seemed another living animal, brought from the outside to divide the acreage in half and then escape, as the water knew its way out.”

In the Prologue, Joy remembers trips at night to see the Bronx Zoo and visit the Barbary lions. As she describes the space of the zoo and its natural features, she compares the Bronx River to a snake, and this metaphor suggests connections between her early life and The Chronicles of Narnia, which personify animals and land.

“There are countless ways to fall in love, and I’d begun my ash-destined affairs in myriad manners.”

Framing her marriage as one of her many affairs or encounters with men, Joy describes the different ways love can begin. She foreshadows that her marriage will end by using imagery of fire and ash, linking beginning passion and ending destruction with her ultimately unhappy marriage to Bill.

“I opened the old Coolerator—more white coffin than fridge—and stared at the lonely shelves.”

As Joy prepares hot chocolate for her husband and sons, she looks inside their refrigerator and notices the lack of food. The empty shelves remind her that she doesn’t have time to write, as domestic duties consume her life. He appliance designed to preserve food—and thus preserve life—becomes a coffin that represents how her marriage is killing her and her dreams of being a writer, illustrating The Impact of Marriage.