The setting which begins to answer your question is the sentence that begins "Most conversations between husband and wife ... " this is near the beginning.
The real core of your question comes with "This aloofness ... " which shows how he handles the disputes with his wife. This is followed by "He attained this by ... " which tells exactly how the aloofness came about. Finally he surrounds himself with people that insulate him from the fights he has will his wife. His bridge games probably insure that he does not have to talk to her.
The song for each worker is special, because it is his and no one else's. His song is what makes each one a great worker. It is a poem about masons, carpenters, working mothers, plows, mechanics and boatmen who meet to sing about their work. At the end of the day the workers gather as one song and celebrate.
the island is the symbol for utopia if we are talking about the same thing
She thought of her last day in middle school, seven years ago, when Sarah had given her an iPod. She had felt ecstatic that day when she realized she would be able to listen to her favorite songs and fend off comments from her cousins about how little she knew about music.
