Setting

Physical setting

The events described in the short story “Serrusalmus” by Lesley Glaister take place in Marjorie’s apartment, where she lives isolated from the rest of the world. Marjorie lives on the nineteenth floor (p. 81, ll. 9-10), which further highlights the idea that she wants to be away from everybody else. 

An important element in Marjorie’s apartment is the aquarium: “One wall of Marjorie’s living room swims with brightness. Each tank is a separate glowing world, where fish flicker through swaying weed” (p. 81, ll. 1-3). The aquarium is symbolic of Marjorie’s desire to be isolated, which is revealed in her dreams: “In her dreams, on good nights, sleeping nights, she is silver slick and silent, gliding from one glass wall to the other, enclosed a...