Expression: a bower of roses

[Haihao]

Hi,

Could you please help me out with:

The grass beside the railroad had been burnt over; it was a smudge prickly with charred stalks of weeds. Beyond the undeviating barbed-wire fences were clumps of golden rod. Only this thin hedge shut them off from the plains-shorn wheat-lands of autumn, a hundred acres to a field, prickly and gray near-by but in the blurred distance like tawny velvet stretched over dipping hillocks. The long rows of wheat-shocks marched like soldiers in worn yellow tabards. The newly plowed fields were black banners fallen on the distant slope. It was a martial immensity, vigorous, a little harsh, unsoftened by kindly gardens.

1. In the first underlined part, does ‘this thin hedge’ refer to the ‘fences’ or the ‘clumps of golden rod’? Does ‘them’ refer to the ‘shorn wheat-lands’? I am very confused.
2. With the second part, I was very interested in the expression ‘unsoftened by kindly gardens’. Does it mean:
   -a. was not softened by kindly gardens which existed there.? or
   -b. was not softened because there were no kindly gardens there.?

Contentedly Sam Clark drove off, in the heavy traffic of three Fords and the Minniemashie House Free 'Bus.
“I shall like Mr. Clark . . . I CAN’T call him ‘Sam’! They’re all so friendly.” She glanced at the houses; tried not to see what she saw; gave way in: “Why do these stories lie so? They always make the bride’s home-coming a bower of roses. Complete trust in noble spouse. Lies about marriage. I’m NOT changed. And this town–O my God! I can’t go through with it. This junk-heap!”

3. Does ‘drove off’ mean ‘started the car’ or ‘smartly drove the car (onto the road) in the heavy traffic…’?
4. Does ‘gave way in…’ mean ‘gave way with such thoughts as…’?
5. Does ‘a bower of roses’ mean ‘a boudoir of roses’?

Many thanks in advance.

Haihao

[Mister_Micawber]

.

1. In the first underlined part, does ‘this thin hedge’ refer to the ‘fences’ or the ‘clumps of golden rod’? – the weed stalks, the fence, and the clumps

Does ‘them’ refer to the ‘shorn wheat-lands’? – ‘them’ is the people talked of, I presume.

2. With the second part, I was very interested in the expression ‘unsoftened by kindly gardens’. Does it mean: -b. was not softened because there were no kindly gardens there. – Yes

3. Does ‘drove off’ mean ‘started the car’ or ‘smartly drove the car (onto the road) in the heavy traffic…’? – Drove away into the traffic

4. Does ‘gave way in…’ mean ‘gave way with such thoughts as…’? – I think ‘gave way’ = conceded, acknowledging ‘what she saw’.

5. Does ‘a bower of roses’ mean ‘a boudoir of roses’? – Sort of: a wonderful place to come to.
   .

[Lost_Soul]

Does ‘gave way in…’ mean ‘gave way with such thoughts as…’? – I think ‘gave way’ = conceded, acknowledging ‘what she saw’.

I would suppose that “gave way in” means “gave in” with an adverb “way”.
So, she gave in to her thoughts…
(Might it be interpreted as I explained ?)

[Yankee]

Hi LS

Because ‘gave way in’ is followed by a colon, my take is that ‘in’ means something similar to “in thinking the following thoughts”.

[Haihao]

Thank you all so very much. They’re all as clear as a bell now. I had presumed and wished Main Street might be a softer touch than The Jungle Book before I took it up but now I have realized I was wrong…, again. But thanks to you and with your help, I feel I can still get through it.

Haihao