Chapter 2 Cont.

As Delphine and Cyprian perfect their balancing act, with Delphine's phenomenal stomach muscles hard at work as Cyprian balances on top of them with no less than six chairs in between, it becomes clear what role each will play in the relationship. The significance of Delphine essentially laying on the ground with all of these things balancing on top of her is not lost on the reader: she is attempting to balance the weight of everything on her own.

This means a few things for Delphine: first of all, it is dangerous to take on all the problems and frustrations of the world on your own, it can easily topple around you at any moment, no matter how prepared you are for it, and it is doing a disservice to herself by allowing herself to provide the basis for other people's happiness. In a sense, she is holding Cyprian up so that he will not fall, will not be exposed for what he really is, which, as we find out at the end of the chapter, is not a man capable of fully loving a woman because of his own confusing sexuality.