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". . . during these naked revels, I just kept my eyes closed and listened to the music: I was really sincerely keeping lust out of my mind by main force and gritting of my teeth." (178)

I find it interesting that everyone thinks of Ray as the person who is open to learning new things as opposed to Japhy, which would fit in with the theme of duality in the book, comparing Japhy and Ray, calm and craziness, city and nature, good and bad. However, for years now, Ray has been more or less adamantly opposed to sex and lust, despite everyone else's urgings and reasonings. Ray refuses to believe that anything good can come out of sex. sometimes his instincts make him question himself, but he'll always renew his determination. Either way, the theme of duality in the book becomes inconsistant here. Either Ray suddenly becomes as stubborn as Japhy as opposed to the flexibility people associate with him, or he becomes as open with sex with Japhy, as opposed to the way he used to be.

"But then I'd find something like a dead crow in the deer park and think "That's a pretty sight for sensitive human eyes, and all of it comes out of sex." (186)

Once again, Ray brings up his strict disapproval and condemnation of sex, with illogical reasoning to boot. He claims that death is the result of sex, and this is true. But like I said in an earlier post, life is also a result of sex. And you can't have life without death, but what a miserable exist the world would be without life. If there was no life in this world, would Ray be happy? Of course he wouldn't be happy, he's dead. So the more he talks about sex and how it's evil, the less I can sympathize and relate with him.