The narrator communicates a very clear transition here as he describes “the change–it is as if a piano chord, struck in a vast concert hall” (408).  This description communicates a hard shocking change that will soon take place as S views Vévoda’s home in his head.

A few interesting things pop out by analyzing S’s view of the Chateau.  First S sees a set of trees which shield his view the house from view by outsiders.  Assuming that this image simply is S’s assumption of the world, S could be implying some sort of shame that he believes Vévoda should have.  If he had such a large ocean front estate, it should be very hard to hide from outsiders, making the trees practically unreasonable.

The second thing which jumps out is “the barn barn in which Vévoda stores, in careless fashion, the art and antiques he has acquired by gift and theft and auction” (408).  Through S’s description, Vévoda seems to have some large desire for acquiring material goods, however he does not have any real use for them.  This could communicate part of Straka’s view on these “capitalist robber barons” who take from the poor just for the fun of it.