A great shift was dawning, with the human masters’ place in the kingdom much reduced from its former glory. She could see how this might lead to a sense of complete disorientation in the universe. But still. The old paradigm was an obsolete shell; the writing on the wall was huge. They just wouldn’t read.
John Cheever wrote a short story called "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" which refers to the biblical phrase "the writing on the wall" from the book of Daniel.
In that story, the phrase "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" is the writing on the wall that prophesies the downfall of the Babylonian kingdom. Here, Kingsolver makes a clear connection to the current political mess and that supporters and followers of the president are short sighted and threaten our downfall.
