The lift mirror

Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.

The lift mirror made strangers briefly responsible for their own appearance. As the doors closed, a man straightened his collar without looking directly at himself. A woman brushed something invisible from her sleeve. I adjusted the strap of my bag, discovering a task for my hands at precisely the moment conversation seemed least likely. We stood close enough to share a small table, arranged as though separated by several rooms.

The numbers above the door changed slowly. Our reflections offered us somewhere to look that was both public and private, a neat compromise requiring no introduction. When the lift stopped on the fourth floor, everyone shifted by a few inches to release one passenger. The movement was almost musical: a step back, a turn, the opening of a gap, then the original pattern restored. Nobody needed to give directions.

At my floor, I said thank you to no particular person and stepped out. The doors closed on the little group, taking our brief arrangement elsewhere. I had travelled only six floors, yet the journey contained a surprising amount of social work: looking without staring, moving without pushing, making room without pretending we had become acquainted.

Refer to the whole of Source A. Analyse how the writer uses language to portray the unspoken behaviour of strangers in the lift. Explain the effects of specific words, phrases and language choices, using evidence from the passage.