Promises and Pomegranates

“Moral licensing I didn’t think twice about, until the lines bled too fully for me to distinguish between them. Until Elena. The most forbidden of fruits. Persephone to my Hades, as some used to call me. Springtime in a world rife with death and destruction. A woman I scorned until I found myself blinded by a new obsession.”

Kal’s earliest comments about Elena demonstrate that his feelings begin as obsession, not love, just like Hades and Persephone, the myth to which his statement alludes. Further, Kal uses a metaphor to compare Elena to a forbidden fruit, something that is especially tempting and off-limits. His description and objectification of her highlights The Boundary Between Obsession and Love. Kal’s “moral licensing” frames cruelty as permissible when balanced by a self-assigned good, which exposes how obsession masquerades as principle until Elena’s presence collapses that rationalization and forces a confrontation with the theme’s boundary.

“Heat floods my cheeks at her question, shame slicing through my skin like the dull edge of a blade. ‘It’s only a couple of pounds,’ I say, trying to obey anyway by inhaling as deep as I can.”

On Elena’s wedding day, Carmen asks how much weight she’s gained since her last dress fitting. This criticism produces a painful sensation that Elena compares, via simile, to being sliced with a dull knife. She tries to obey Carmen’s command to suck in her stomach, despite her hurt feelings and shame. This exchange shows how powerless being ruled by “duty” can make one feel, demonstrating why following one’s desire is, ultimately, more enjoyable.

“His jaw is sharp enough to cut glass, covered in a thin layer of stubble and framing Adonis-style bone structure, while his dark eyes are more reminiscent of the evil he’s rumored to be.”

Elena uses hyperbole when she exaggerates the sharpness of Kal’s jawline, portraying his face as severe, masculine, and dangerously attractive.