The Gorgon's Head - Fountains

“The fountain in the village flowed unseen and unheard, and the fountain at the chateau dropped unseen and unheard – both melting away, like the minutes that were falling from the spring of Time – through three dark hours. Then, the grey water of both began to be ghostly in the light…” (132)

This quote illustrates the happenings of the past chapter as well as this chapter. “The fountain in the village” is the fountain where the kid that got ran over by the Marquis’ carriage was put after the tragic incident and the “fountain at the chateau” was described earlier in the chapter as one of the many parts of the chateau that was made stone by the gorgon’s head. The thing about these two fountains is that they’re both fountains and we’re not given a massively differing description about how the look – they’re both “unseen and unheard”. The thing that sets them apart is the movement of the water of the two fountains. The village fountain flows and the chateau fountain drops – which are two very different motions. It is possible that these fountains foreshadow the movement of the futures of the two differing social classes; the village fountain flows, just like the peasants will once they’ve taken over the higher class - there’ll be no stopping them once they’ve gotten going -, and the chateau’s fountain drops, just like every single higher-class person will once the peasants mobilize. It’s a very gruesome foreshadowing for a very beautifully painted picture. Altogether, this quote literally shows the difference between the two fountains, and figuratively shows the difference in the two classes and their futures.