When describing Mrs. Sinico and Duffy’s deepening friendship, the narrator uses a metaphor to compare Mrs. Sinico to a “confessor,” as seen in the following passage:
Little by little he entangled his thoughts with hers. He lent her books, provided her with ideas, shared his intellectual life with her. She listened to all […]. With almost maternal solicitude she urged him to let his nature open to the full; she became his confessor.
A “confessor” is a priest who hears Catholic practitioners’ confessions and offers them spiritual guidance. This metaphor is notable in that it simultaneously captures Duffy’s growing emotional intimacy with Mrs. Sinico and also shows how nonsexual their relationship is (at least in Duffy’s mind). While onlookers might assume the two were having an affair, Duffy is merely looking for someone who will “listen to it all” and with whom he can “share his intellectual life.” He has lived a very alienated and lonely existence to this point and merely wants to connect with someone interested in connecting with him in return.
It is also notable that Mrs. Sinico is described as having an “almost maternal solicitude” when it came to encouraging Duffy to share with her. Again, this language implies that there is no sexual energy between the two, at least not as far as Duffy can tell—she is more of a mother figure to him than a partner. Whether this is because he is unconsciously repressing his sexual desire or not is left unclear.
