... the hierarchy of trees". This continues into the "familiar world" "out here at the end of the Lanes", ie: the hierarchy of humans where the levels convey Stephen's actual opinion of the concept of hierarchy and social status. This shows how immature Stephen is and however evident is his naivety. In hindsight Frayn exposes the audience to the intentional irony of the "sliver framed heroes" at the highest to the lowest - "an old derelict taking refuge" who are the same person. Frayn has emphasised this hierarchy from the beginning. Stephen feels in triumph that for once he perceives himself higher than someone else in the "human precedence" and the language emphatically robusts this. This only reinforces that younger is obsessed with hierarchy - only after the discussion of hierarchy is there a sense of realisation. The language in this passage contributes the understanding in the theme of mystery and ...

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