26 pages • 52 minutes read
Fay WeldonInd Aff
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1989A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Princip’s footprints
Princip’s footprints symbolize the unhappy and imbalanced relationship between the narrator and Peter. “Ind Aff” opens with a description of rain filling up the footsteps of Princip at the place where he assassinated the Archduke and his wife. This precipitation, visually muddying the representation of Princip’s patriotism, suggests that the professor is not able to see their relationship clearly. The fact that the protagonist says that they are “clear enough” foreshadows her coming to see the unfortunate truth of their romance. Their disagreement highlights Gendered Power Imbalances in Love, since Peter does not acknowledge the narrator’s opinions about the footprints.
The Pepper
A pepper comes with the appetizer of salad that the protagonist and her lover are served. The pepper is a symbol for the sexual aspect of their relationship, which is also the superficial level or appetizer of their relationship. While removing seeds from his pepper, Peter “part[s] the flesh of the soft orangey-red pepper” (Paragraph 20). This description invokes an erotic image of spreading a vulva. Peter’s attention to detail regarding the pepper suggest that he is talented sexually, yet he consumes the pepper, reflecting his objectification of the narrator. The pepper illuminates the eroticism in the story.
The Wild Boar
As a symbol in the story, the wild boar is something that Peter and his mistress choose early in the story and repeatedly yearn for until it arrives. In service of both of the themes of Gendered Power Imbalances in Love and The Effects of Pivotal Choices, it symbolizes the choice to be together and the meat of their relationship that they are searching for. Peter guesses that the wild boar is actually “ordinary pork soaked in red cabbage water to darken it” (Paragraph 10), rendering it less appetizing, just as their relationship becomes less appetizing over time. When it at long last arrives, “the food was no longer hot” (Paragraph 46), which reflects the main character’s decision to leave. The wild boar signifies that the relationship has overstayed its welcome and is repulsive, like cold food. Additionally, women are traditionally represented as hunted animals in narratives of seduction, so like a wild boar that is foul once caught, killed, and cooked, the narrator may eventually become less interesting to Peter. She recognizes this as she leaves him, and when she decides not to eat the wild boar, she refuses to partake in this hunted dynamic or to continue to search for meaning in their relationship.
