Pleasure and Shame

Throughout the novel, the author explores the connection between pleasure and shame through the character Ada. Ada first discovered sexual pleasure while leaning into the upturned keel, "the vibration of [her father's] work traveling up through the vessel's bones into her own" (106). She positioned her pelvis to receive the full sensation inside of herself and forgot the presence of her father and brother. When they noticed her rocking against the keel and called to inquire if she was alright, Ada immediately felt ashamed of herself. She felt that she had sinned and "turned to run off to the brook [and] stayed there the rest of the afternoon, feeling almost stripped of her skin" (106). Her lack of sex education made her feel ashamed about normal sexual desires. Without the language to articulate her sexuality or discuss masturbation, Ada's first sexual experience founded her belief that...