In the final stanza we see that the uncle sees his role as that of curator of the ‘correct’ social order. He sees it as his duty to protect the expensive antiques that are markers of his social status: ‘Let us only bear in mind/ How these treasures handed down/ From a calmer age passed on/ Are in keeping of our kind.’ The noun ‘treasures’ indicates the store he places on material objects. Not just any objects, but expensive heirlooms that are the exclusive preserve of the very wealthy. The phrase ‘calmer age’ suggests that the time when society was rigidly divided by class and wealth is in the past. The phrase ‘our kind’ is a euphemistic way of saying upper-class.
Rich meticulously portrays the speech and haughty expressions of the supercilious (one who feels superior) uncle throughout this poem, but perhaps most effectively in the final, ironic couplet: ‘We stand between dead glass-blowers/ And murmurings of missile-throwers.’ The uncle may intend his meaning to be that he and his class will defend crystal chandeliers and antique glass bowls from ‘missile-throwers’, but, by phrasing it the way he does, he is allying himself with the artisans who created these cut-glass treasures. These artisans were probably of a similar social class to the ‘mob’ outside his window. Rich’s sly dig at the uncle’s complete lack of insight into how his way of life is made possible only through the efforts of the working class he clearly despises is the perfect ending for this clever critique of snobbery.
