Museums, Sex, and Lonliness

Pornography as a Winter Museum is emblematic of the character's psyche, encased in a physical space. Within the 'uncertain walls' of the museum encases the hallmark of human shame, sexual desire, "when sex becomes the talk of the town and the darkness is filled with its waves, I’m always standing at the door of the winter museum". This space appears to represent the nature of the narrators mind when engaging in sexual acts. The common and mundane objects that would normally represent artifacts of a museum, significant symbols of ones mind, are devoid of meaning to the narrator, "of course the stove and fridge and toothbrush have no history - they're just things I got at the nearby electric shop or general store". 

I interpreted this story as someone struggling with a plausible sex addiction, and their inability to experience intimacy as a result. When this man thinks of sex he is brought to a cold space where things seem devoid of meaning. The narrator attempts to find warmth in this space, he warms up milk for himself, which is probably representative of some female relationship he is longing for. His acts in the museum, which I think represent different sexual acts, are procedural. He checks off his list of what I interpret to be acts of arousal as if he is incapable of doing anything else. But once "sex strikes the door" of his museum, and he allows it in by opening the door, the milk loses its warmth. He is confronted with the opportunity of sex, Jar 36 slips into a dense slumber, and he is filled with a sense of meaninglessness. There is someone at the door, but the narrator doesn't care. He's "given up on people", given up on any form of intimacy, and is left devoid of feeling. I think this story is about internal world of a lonely sex addict, someone who is unable to curb their sexual urges, who is blinded by them until they are complete, and is ultimately left after completion with an overwhelming emptiness. He yearns for the warmth of another, but is too depressive and removed to make a change.

                                                                                                                            Gia