The Stuffed Aardvark

The stuffed aardvark, which appears in both the Wilson (contemporary) and Downing (historical) narrative lines, has the same symbolic value in both - that is, it is an embodiment of, and trigger for, thematically significant calls to love and beauty that comes into the lives of the four central characters. In the same way as those characters are taken by surprise by the beauty they find in the aardvark, they are similarly taken by surprise by the love that the presence of the aardvark both triggers and manifests in their relationships, and in their individual selves. .

Sex and Sexuality

Throughout the narrative, and in both narrative lines, sex and sexuality represent a form of intimacy and connection that the characters who engage in those activities are not able to fully connect to. This is true of the male same-sex couples whose relationships are the...