Crumbs of Comfort

Here we see a bright and intelligent, young woman of the Gynarchy keeping a prisoner-slave in the stocks company under leaden skies whilst eating her sandwich.

Points to note about the scene are:

·         How the young woman is well wrapped-up against the elements, unlike the prisoner-slave who, quite rightly, must shiver and soak in the punishment stocks

·         How the wood on the bench on which she is seated in front of the prisoner is much plusher, and more comfortable, than the rough wood of the ignominious contraption in which he is confined; again, rightly so

·         She appears indifferent to his suffering, being consumed by the tastiness and nutritiousness of her sandwich

·         She also appears to be collecting the crumbs from her sandwich in her left hand. But is it so that she can feed those crumbs to the hungry prisoner-slave when she has finished her meal? We think not, for she has the appearance of being a law-abiding young woman, and under the Female Laws of the Gynarchy it is strictly forbidden to feed prisoner-slaves who are undergoing punishment in the stocks. No, we can be sure that she will scatter the crumbs on the ground when she has finished eating, so that the Gynarchy pigeons may feast on them. She is, you see, kind to animals, but couldn’t care less about the prisoner-slave

·         Having said that I suppose you could argue that she is, in effect, ‘feeding’ the slave the mud and dirt from her boots, by allowing him to kiss and lick them with his menial mouth. That must at least provide some crumbs of comfort for the lonely prisoner-slave in the stocks. No wonder he is in awe of her, as should we be!