Near the beginning of the story, as Chandler is sitting at his desk at work and looking out the window, the narrator uses imagery to capture the scene before him:
The glow of a late autumn sunset covered the grass plots and walks. It cast a shower of kindly golden dust on the untidy nurses and decrepit old men who drowsed on the benches; it flickered upon all the moving figures – on the children who ran screaming along the gravel paths and on everyone who passed through the gardens. He watched the scene and thought of life; and (as always happened when he thought of life) he became sad.
The imagistic language here helps readers visualize the specifics of the scene, such as how “the glow of a late autumn sunset […] cast a shower of kindly golden dust” and how the light “flickered upon all the moving figures.” Readers can see and feel this flickering golden light while also hearing the shouts of children, effectively pulling them more deeply into this contemplative moment.
It is notable that Joyce’s description of the light here has an optimistic quality—it is described as "kindly." Meanwhile, the people whom the lights falls upon are presented in more negative terms as “the untidy nurses and decrepit old men.” Little Chandler himself also looks upon this scene, thinks of “life,” and starts to feel “sad.” This is Joyce’s way of noting Little Chandler's sense that the beauty of life is passing him by and that, like the sleeping nurses and old men, he is missing out, trapped, as he is, in his mundane life.
