(...and the Sunday the bishop came you couldn't see Halley's Comet any more and you saw the others being confirmed and it lasted for hours because there were a lot of little girls being confirmed too and all you could hear was mumble mumble this thy child mumble mumble this thy child and you wondered if you'd be alive next time Halley's Comet came round)
作者John Dos Passos (0 评论)
在“第42个相似之处”中，约翰·多斯·帕斯托斯（John Dos Passos）说明了人生中以个人经验和重大事件的交集为标志的时刻。主角反思见证了几个年轻女孩的确认仪式，同时错过了难得的机会见到哈雷的彗星。这种并置突出了一种渴望和时间的流逝，因为角色考虑了时刻的短暂本质和衰老的必然性。
仪式期间的重复短语创造了庄严和仪式的背景，与个人的内在思想形成鲜明对比。关于哈雷彗星的下一次露面的奇迹强调了死亡率的主题以及与超越自己无法控制的时刻联系的渴望。通过这些思考，Dos Passos捕捉了平凡生活和深刻存在的质疑的融合。