Answer: It stands for time standing still while the family waits for news, and for Grandad's absence: the household is stuck in the moment he left. "It had stopped at twenty past four on the day he went into hospital. Nobody wound it."

Answer: Winding the clock suggests time and normal life starting again now that Grandad is recovering. Doing it the way Grandad did shows that Tom is carrying on his grandfather's habits and patience, a sign of connection and growing maturity.

Answer: Light builds the idea of hope and guidance in a dark time. Each image of light appears when the family most needs comfort, ending with the clock lamp ticking again when hope is answered.

Answer: The light helps those who are lost, not those that are fixed and unfeeling. The family are like ships in the storm: unsure where they are and in need of guidance and hope. It suggests Grandad was a guiding light for them.

Answer: The storm mirrors the fear and turmoil of waiting for news (pathetic fallacy). Yet during it the phones are silent and the family are together in candlelight, so the storm also brings them closer and lets the mother finally express her feelings.

Answer: The family has been waiting patiently, holding onto hope, and that hope is rewarded when Grandad wakes. Tom's careful, slow winding of the clock shows he has learned this patience himself.

Answer: At the start Tom rolls his eyes at Grandad's sayings, suggesting he takes him for granted. At the end he does not roll his eyes at anything, showing new respect, gratitude and emotional maturity after nearly losing him.

Model answer: The writer uses the lighthouse clock as a symbol that changes across the story, showing how hope can be paused but not lost. At the beginning the clock has "stopped at twenty past four on the day he went into hospital", and the detail that "nobody wound it" suggests the family's lives are frozen in fear while they wait. Tom checks the clock every afternoon "as if it might tell him something", which shows he is searching for a sign that things will be all right. Because the clock is shaped like a lighthouse, it is also linked to guidance through danger, connecting it with the real lighthouse that shines "steady as breathing" during the storm. When Grandad recovers, Tom winds the clock "the way Grandad used to", and the ticking becomes a sign that time, and hope, are moving forward again. The writer describes the sound as "small" and "almost nothing", suggesting that hope can be quiet but still powerful. In this way, the clock shows that hope survives even when it seems to have stopped, and that patience is rewarded.