Creme de Menthe and Totem and Bizarre Sexuality

Creme de Menthe and Totem contain repeated references to the darkness or evil of sexuality. There is at least one description of of Minette's eyes as containing "knowledge of evil" and there attraction is further described as "dark." These descriptions seem to be a facet of Gerald's frankly twisted views on sexuality, since the narration more or less remains in his head until the very end of Totem. Gerald's descriptions of their interactions tend to set up the experience of sexual attractions in terms of predator and prey. He feels himself in utter control over her and as though he has license to use her (though she seems to be the one using him). The utterly bizarre way in which he seems to process sexuality is counter-pointing by his reaction to the carving in Totem, which he seems to dislike because of its "barbaric" nature and his own desire to maintain certain illusions. In this we have a character who may want to maintain the social distrust of sexuality because it reaffirms his own darkness. After all, if society says a thing is twisted, then one's own twisted view on the subject should be perfectly normal.

That last bit may be a bit of a stretch but frankly, the more about Gerald I read the more he sounds like an all-around bastard.

Another thing worth noting. I'm really not sure if Lawrence is trying to satirize erotica or whether modern erotica (including the horror that is internet fan-fiction). The novel seems to ignore the convention of remaining in a single character's head, instead choosing to seamlessly move between internal monologues. The fact that in Creme de Menthe and Totem he seems to hold exclusively to one character's point of view until the last few paragraphs seems a deviation from his usual style. The fact that Birkin seems to spend both of these chapters sick seems an attempt to high-light the pretensions of the characters in these chapters. He only really seems to come back to life (so to speak) while discussing the totem that Gerald so dislikes.