“In the heat of her hands I thought, This is the campfire that mocks the sun. This place will warm me, feed me and care for me. I will hold on to this pulse against other rhythms. The world will come and go in the tide of a day but here is her hand with my future in its palm” (Winterson 51).
In this passage, the narrator describes her love for Louise. The narrator first describes Louise’s hands as “the campfire that mocks the sun” (Winterson 51). Campfires are scenes of happiness, because they are surrounded by family and friends, a place where people bond. Although you can feel the sun’s warmth from afar, you cannot gather around it like people can a campfire. The narrator goes on to claim that Louise’s hands “will warm me, feed me and care for me” (Winterson 51). This list of words gives a feeling of home, almost in a mothering sense. Most people feel safe in places they are familiar with, home being the most familiar. Here, the narrator is also insinuating that Louise is all they could possibly need, because she provides for them. Next, the narrator states they will “hold on to this pulse against other rhythms” (Winterson 51). The first meaning that comes to mind is Louise’s pulse, which the narrator can most likely feel while holding her hands. A pulse is a sign of life, and because the narrator will hold onto it “against other rhythms” deems Louise’s life as a priority, as something especially important to the narrator. A pulse also makes readers think of the organ that controls it: Louise’s heart. The narrator states they will always hold onto this, and love Louise more than anyone else—-the “other rhythms” (Winterson 51). Finally, the narrator plays with time, stating that the “world will come and go in the tide of a day but here is her hand with my future in its palm” (Winterson 51). Here, the narrator implies that their love for Louise will last forever and that nothing can break it. Anything could happen “in the tide of a day” (Winterson 51) but the narrator will always love Louise, because, so to speak, Louise has the narrator in the palm of her hand.