“The Demon Lover” Elizabeth Bowen Kathleen Drover had come back to her London home alone which could symbolize the way the English felt at this time. They were alone to face the German war machine before the other Allied forces entered the war. There is also a feeling that something is watching her from the beginning. She states “but no human eye watched Mrs. Drover’s return.” (p.346), which could symbolize the English people’s view of the Germans at the time. The Germans (not human) were under the impression that England and Russia were the only real threats on their path to controlling Europe. The feeling of helplessness could also be drawn from events in the story. “There were some cracks in the structure,” (p.347) could be an idea of the stability of the infrastructure of England. It was not completely broken but there was a costly amount of damage. The future was not bright and hopeful as evidenced by passages such as “the sun had gone in; as the clouds sharpened and lowered, the trees and rank lawns seemed already to smoke with dark.” (p.347) The letter itself may have been a message to not forget what has happened in the past. In the story Kathleen Drover is confusing World War II with World War I. She has the flashback in the garden with her fiancé where he states, “I shall be with you…sooner or later. You won’t forget that. You need do nothing but wait.” (p.349). This, is when she starts to believe that the letter must be from her lost fiancé. It may also be symbolic of how England forgot the history of World War I and lowered their defenses enough for Germany to take advantage of the situation. “The Demon Lover” could also be thought of as more of a psychological thriller. There are many passages that lead the reader to believe that Mrs. Drover’s sanity is slowly unraveling. She seems to be in some kind of trouble from the opening paragraph and it slowly gets worse with each passing sentence. The psychological aspect of this story is also...