The White Tower

"The Chapter Ends."

Can we grind this story into even finer particles? We can try.

Might the "steely pillar" of the spaceship count as a "dark tower" to which the Terrans come? (When we start looking for imagery, we find it everywhere.)

I ask this because "The Chapter Ends" also presents a white tower:

"One tower still stood - a gutted shell, white under the stars, rising in a filigree of columns and arches which seemed impossibly airy, as if it were built of moonlight." (p. 274)

Airy, built of moonlight - the antithesis of "dark." This tower is a vantage point that becomes a meeting place when Cluthe and Taliuvenna arrive to sightsee after finishing their work in an African district. However, their attitude is frivolous whereas Jorun's is serious. He is a more suitable viewpoint character for this solemn occasion, the departure of mankind from Earth.