The Bone Carving

The Bone Carving that Ada stole from the indigenous grave symbolizes the correlation she made between pleasure and guilt and her sexual relationship with Evered. Ada stole the carving despite knowing that it was taboo to remove anything from the grave. She derived pleasure from the object's aesthetic qualities as well as its forbidden nature. Her sexual encounters with Evered elicited the same mix of pleasure and shame.

Mrs. Brace

Mrs. Brace symbolizes healthy sexual pleasure. Her sexual encounters with both Captain Truss and the unnamed sailor are the only descriptions of a woman having sex that is detach from marriage or guilt. She was unashamed of being an unmarried woman who had sex with multiple partners. After they met, Evered included Mrs. Brace in his sexual fantasies. He described the experience of masturbating to her image as the first time he felt devoid...