The tale is told simply. Its atmosphere of suppressed rage is created primarily through ambiguity. Mrs. Ostrowsky plainly oppresses her son, but exactly how she does it is not clear.

The action takes place in a psychological world; thoughts and motivations in a person's mind are often vague, confused, and tied up with other feelings from unidentifiable sources. Bill's mind is more than usually confused, so his feelings and thoughts are more than usually vague. His world is suffused with his mother's evil, but how she makes him miserable is not always plainly shown. After her death, when her pillow exerts its influence on Bill, it is not clear whether Bill is deranged and is actually hearing his mother's voice from inside himself, or whether the pillow is indeed possessed by a demonic spirit. Bill himself does not believe in the supernatural and thinks that he probably is...