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... perfect. The bowl can also represent or symbolize Audreas life. In the final paragraph the bowl is described as being “the world cut in half, deep and smoothly empty.” (Page 217, Ann Beattie.) Although her career is successful and she has a loving husband, she feels empty because she is indecisive of what she loves. The image of the cream colored bowl gives the reader the impression that Audrea hesitates in pursing her dreams and desires. An allusion is a literary device, which allows the author to make an indirect reference from another piece of literature. Beattie uses the title to portray a universal theme. Although not mentioned once throughout the short story, "Janus" brings about a whole new meaning. Janus is an early Latin god, and those who listened and learned from Janus believe he was one of the Numina. Numina means 'wills' or 'powers'. (http://celephais.blogspot.com) This is parallel to Andrea's belief of the bowl and its wills and powers. Beattie uses this allusion to help the reader understand the relationship between the bowl and Andrea. Relating Andrea to the people who believed in Janus assists Beattie in characterization. Beattie’s use of tone throughout the story lends itself to the development of Audreas character. She uses a mysterious and curious tone in a way that it grabs and holds onto the attention of the reader. She uses words such as, mystery, secret, disappearance, perfect, and dismissive. Her choice of diction leads the reader to look beneath the lines and search for a deeper meaning. Beattie also uses many rhetorical questions leaving the reader in thought. “Could it be that she had some deeper connection with the bowl—a relationship of some kind? She corrected her thinking: how could she imagine such a thing, when she was a human being and it was a bowl? It was ridiculous.” (Page 216, Ann Beattie) These questions help in keeping the tone at a curious level. She balances this out evenly, and as the questions and thoughts arise they become deeper. They become questions that are more personal to Audrea herself. The mood of the story is consistently questioning, curious, and it makes a person get inside the mind of Audrea. The overall tone of the story brings the reader inside Audreas mind, in turn, portraying characterization. The short story, “Janus,” written by Ann Beattie is a story about a woman of success. Well at least that what I perceived it as. She has a good career, an excellent husband, and nothing seems to be going wrong. Then this cream colored bowl begins to have a huge influence on how Audrea thinks. Soon the bowl is the focal point of the stor...