Beginning of Essay
Doris Lessing¹s "" is a story about reality and fantasy. Throughout the story Lessing uses certain colors such as white, scarlet, and black to illustrate actual and assumed characteristics. Color is very influential to how people perceive things because of the m ....

Middle of Essay
.... he knew what the woman on the roof was like. In his dreams "she was kind and friendly" (705). White symbolizes Tom¹s fantasy of the woman on the roof. When Stanley flirted with Mrs. Pritchett, Tom felt that his "romance with the woman on the roof was safe and intact" (706). What romance? Tom has based his opinion on fantasy rather than reality. Fantasizing "himself at work on the crane, adjusting the arm to swing over and pick her up and swing her back across the sky to drop her near him" (704) illustrates that Tom is out of touch with reality. Tom "felt as if he hadn¹t whistled, as if only Harry and Stanley had" (706) and "was full of secret ....