“I thought the fiery furnace must be better than central heating.”
[Furnace —->]
The context of the passage leading up to this sentence depicts the narrator’s uncertainty and conflicting emotions regarding their past relationships and feelings. This sentence further highlights this confusion. The sentence initially begins with “I thought.” Immediately, this indicates a previous thought process, opinion or assumption that no longer stands. “I thought,” but I no longer think.
The narrator then proceeds to compare a fiery furnace to central heating. A fiery furnace for the passion and heat of an overall intense relationship? Central heating to represent the boring and mundane elements of comfort and ease? Why, however, has their perception of relationships changed? Why let their past experience be indicative of the present or future.
I believe with the syntax and diction of this sentence, as well as the preceding passage as a whole, the narrator is once again feeding into to mystery of the novel, continuing to make the outcome of their actions increasingly unclear. In doing this, the narrator is further adding to the excitement and interesting elements of the novel by backtracking on statements they have previously declared to the reader.