Describe symbolism in The Immoralist by Andre Gide

In Part I, Chapter I, we see that although Michel is intelligent and educated, he is naive in the ways of the world. The honeymoon voyage symbolizes Michel's passage into adulthood. The illness Michel suffers is also symbolic for it purges him of the essence of the person he used to be; in fact Michel almost dies from the tuberculosis so the recovery and the resulting new life are actually Michel's rebirth into the next phase of his life.