Metaphor points always to a sense of identity, and this identity is always, in some sense, regional. An important theme in literature is the difficulty or inability to discover this sense of identity. The dichotomy is between nature and civilization, and true identity can only come with a fusion of the two elements of our human experience. The relations between individuals corresponds with the relations between the community and the land. This correspondence takes the form of male-female relationships, or of dogma as antithetical to the human imagination.
