The object is not yet visible to the eye, but its presence is felt. Noting that there was a “tension and tension in the air, a shift in its usual balance” (31). This is analogous to their relationship because there is a sense that there is something problematic but there is no clear issue to pinpoint. Returning from the barber shop, the narrator realizes that if the "ceiling" in its "smooth black enamel" were to remain at its current level "we might come to forget it was there, drawing for ourselves a new map of the night sky." (35). The object symbolizes how the narrator perceives his relationship, which is that as long as there are no bumps or scratches, his marriage will remain as stable as he assumes it to be. Notably, the plane of the object is no more than a few inches above the ground, and the narrator, his wife, and Mitch, along with their children, lay beneath the “shiny lower surface of the ceiling” (39). As shown, the matter remains unresolved, which might make it seem like their relationship is perfect, flawless, despite the knowing complications and their refusal to discuss it. Ironically, not only are they trapped in a city that is coming to an end as the ceiling nears the ground, but they are also trapped in a doomed marriage with no way out.