As the sink’s water becomes “flat and gray,” Ann reaches in and cuts her thumb on something sharp. Wolff describes the cut “a single drop of blood welled up, trembling and bright” (2). When Ann cuts her thumb, the tension between the husband and the wife comes to halt, forcing the reader to focus on Ann’s “drop of blood.” Wolff continues to reference the blood, its color, and the way it stains the kitchen floor. It’s a reference to the “one drop rule” in American history, maintaining that one drop of “African blood” made someone Black, regardless of how they looked, or if they had significant European ancestry. Ann’s blood appears in the middle of their argument to reinforce the artificiality and complexity of race, serving as a reminder that race isn’t as “black and white” as her husband argues it to be.

Dirt and cleanliness are mentioned throughout the story. In the beginning, the husband and wife are doing dishes. As their argument intensifies, Ann washes dishes quickly causing them to be “greasy” with “flecks of food between the tines of the forks” (1). Her husband becomes angry with her and drops them back in the sink, saying “these are dirty” making the water “flat and gray” (2).