Parades are generally viewed with joy and exuberance while cemeteries evoke feelings of sadness and remembrance. These two concepts are emotionally opposed to each other, yet they are brought together in the same sentence. Instead of referencing the parade to represent a certain emotion, it alludes to the timing and sequentiality of the deaths in the Dubois family. Parades are rather long and time-consuming celebrations, filled with various festivities. Large numbers of people march sequentially down the street, one event after another, in what appears to be an endless queue. Comparing the deaths to a parade, Blanche says the deaths in her family seemed endless. One person would get sick and die, then the next, and the next, and the cycle continued until Blanche was the only person to die.