First of which is the "half-dead unfledged bird" (Nabokov, 1948). Seeing how the son cannot communicate with society and not do the normal things that most humans can, it could be said that he is already "half-dead" mentally. "Unfledged" refers to the boy's youth and inexperience in life. This is the exact condition that their son is in and Nabokov throws a clue to the reader and the parents as soon as the parents leave the institution. The second clue is given when Nabokov writes "the underground train lost its life current between two stations" (Nabokov, 1948). The train represents the boy and the "current between two stations" represents the boy's connection with himself and that current world. They encounter the third clue when it started to rain. As the couple was going to see their son, it started raining after the train "lost its life current." Rain is used to symbolize the cleansing of the world after someone's death. In this case, the rain is cleansing the world of their son's death.
The fourth clue that Nabokov uses to allude to the son's death is when describing the wife, "She wore cheap black dresses she presented a naked white countenance" (Nabokov, 1948). "Naked white countenance" refers to the fact that she does not wear any make-up. In the United States, women typically wear black dresses and very little to no make up to funerals. Since she is always wearing a black dress and no make-up, Nabokov is insinuating that she is always ready for a funeral, in this case her son's funeral. The fifth clue that Nabokov presents is "some playing cards that slipped from the couch to the floor: knave of hearts, nine of spades, ace of spades" (Nabokov, 1948). In the United States, fortune tellers often use cards as a means of telling the future for someone. These cards, if looked at through a fortune teller's perspective, are extremely relevant to the story.