Trumpet

Kay describes the sleeping dreams of almost all of the main characters. Millie dreams of cross-dressing with Joss just before he plays; Colman dreams of saving a deaf child from water rising in a flooded basement; and Big Red McCall, Joss’s bandmate, dreams he is chasing Joss, who carries on a conversation while he fades into the distance. Even the deceased Joss has dreams in which he sees those whom he has left behind.

Kay uses dreams to express the anxiety and hopes of the characters; Colman realizes he must rescue his father’s memory and reputation, and McCall struggles with the notion that he must lead the band. Dreams also remind characters of what was and may still be important to them. For example, after learning of Joss’s death, his childhood playmate, May Hart, dreams about their past relationship.

Kay portrays her characters as symbols for different aspects of the human experience. As mentioned in Character Analysis, the four main characters embody qualities essential to the narrative. Kay symbolically uses minor characters to embody certain qualities as well. Characters such as the coroner, registrar, mortician, Colman’s concerned friend Sammy, and Joss’s mother Edith all embody the expected characteristics of their assigned roles.

Still, Kay’s characters read as realistic due to their genuine reactions to the unexpected. For example, the unflappable undertaker, Albert Holding, prides himself on helping bereaved families contain their emotions—but becomes anxious upon having to reveal Joss’s assigned gender to Colman. Kay wants readers to understand how the reveal of Joss’s secret affects the predictable world of many individuals—to no fault of his own.

Kay uses weather and visibility as symbols of awareness and insight. The ability to see, for the main characters, correlates to their understanding of their circumstances. For example, at his greatest moment of uncertainty, Colman finds himself in the tube (the London subway), where he cannot see where he needs to go. When John Moore, Joss’s father, arrives in London on a ship, heavy fog surrounds the docking area and people wander aimlessly, uncertain of their destinations. Kay ties this inability to see to the turn of the century, when the entire nation felt uncertain. By contrast, there are moments of visibility. After learning of Joss’s death, Joss’s mother Edith stands beneath the stars, gazing into the clear expanse of heaven; at the end of the novel, Colman reunites with his mother in Torr on a clear day, when the harbor is completely visible. Edith gains clarity as to why she hasn’t heard from her child, and Colman and Millie reconcile after having worked through their difficult emotions.