No writer ever took such care about food and drink, so marshaled his forces to create a military effect of armies drawn up as if for battle: ranks, files, “rival ends,” sentries, squads, sashes. Such a paragraph would not be created without having some purpose, some ulterior motive.
In a way the food has been personified to represent the tension amongst the guests who are about to all share the meal laid out on the table despite the meaning the act conveys: communion.
