Description of the city under attack

In Gorky's "The Mother of a Traitor", the city is shown as a place of fear and gloom because it is besieged by an enemy army led by one of its own sons.

The scene

• A tight siege. For many weeks the enemy has surrounded the city like a ring of steel. At night the enemy's campfires burn around the walls and seem to stare at the city through the darkness like countless red eyes.
• Darkness and silence. Inside, the city is dark and quiet. The people are tense and anxious, and they talk in low voices about the danger.
• Defence. Tired and hungry men guard the walls and gates, waiting for the next attack.
• Suffering. The siege brings hunger, sickness and death. The wounded groan, the dead are mourned, and families live in grief and dread.
• Anger against the traitor. The people are bitter because the enemy's leader is a native of their own city. Their rage falls on his mother, and they whisper about her as she passes.
• Contrast. Against this background of fear, Monna Marianna walks calmly through the streets with a firm purpose.

The description of the city makes the reader feel the danger of treason and prepares for the mother's decision to save her city.