Describe symbolism in Sharpe's Battle: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, May 1811 by Bernard Cornwell

In Chapter Six, we learn that Lord Kiely had an overbearing, dominating mother whom he could never please. Though he tried all of his life for her respect and love, he did not obtain it. The symbolism of talking to the Madonna in the church as if she was his mother and/or Juanita, both symbols of his own perception that he could not satisfy or please the women in his life, is pitiful. Killing himself and the blood splattered on the statue are also symbolic of Lord Kiely continually living his life for his mother and his girlfriend. In the end, he "shed his blood" as in "gave his life" to women who scorned him.