Kew Gardens

Simon and Eleanor are married with children named Caroline and Hubert. In the garden, Simon’s contemplation of his failed marriage proposal to a girl named Lily represents the theme of Moments of Being. He does not regret this outcome but finds the clarity of his memory remarkable. The prominence of the dragonfly and Lily’s shoe buckle in Simon’s memory demonstrates the significance of the moment to his younger self. Still, he is content. Lily did not accept his proposal, as Simon reflects, “happily not, or I shouldn‘t be walking here with Eleanor and the children” (85). The openness with which Simon shares his remembrance of Lily with Eleanor further indicates his satisfaction with his marriage and family.

Eleanor also demonstrates simultaneous nostalgia and emotional maturity. When Simon asks her if he thinks about the past, she says, “Aren‘t they one‘s past, all that remains of it, those men and women, those ghosts lying under the trees […] one‘s happiness, one‘s reality?” (86). Like Simon, Eleanor does not resent her present life. However, she recognizes the influence of a person’s experiences on their current self. She also relives a moment of being in her memory of an old woman’s kiss.