The two stories The Dollhouse by Katherine Mansfield and The Fall of the City by Alden Nowlan both deal with themes of change and the passage of time. In The Dollhouse, a young girl must leave her dollhouse behind as she grows up, representing her transition to adulthood. The Fall of the City depicts a city in decline as buildings crumble and nature reclaims the urban landscape, showing the ephemeral nature of civilizations. Both works use symbolic elements to illustrate how nothing lasts forever and that all things must eventually change as time marches on.