Another beating heart in Permafrost is its carnality, the way it depicts a body moving through and against the world. The world outside the body, with its demands for a certain behavior, and the world inside—not only on the level of thought but of bodily function—are in constant conflict throughout. The result is an intensity of feeling, something the protagonist both craves and balks at. Hence the permafrost, the thick layer of ice she’s thrown up to protect her inner life from the living that’s happening outside. Hence her fixation on sex, which allows her to safely bridge the two. Yet, if
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