he has "something to hold on to". He tells Minus of his own hope: love. David and his son discuss the concept of love as it relates to God, and they find solace in the idea that their own love may help sustain Karin. Minus is grateful and in awe that he finally had a real conversation with his father, uttering: "Papa spoke to me". Themes The genre of "family drama" is one analytic approach, with academic Frank Gado referring to Minus as the "consciousness" of this portrayal of family. The tense relationship between the family members is revealed in the meal scene, where David's children are dismayed by his intentions to leave soon after returning to the family, placing a damper on the joy of the occasion. Minus expresses his desire, "I wish I could talk to Papa just once". Minus' play also reveals conflicts. Gado wrote that the story within a story takes place in Saint Teresa's Chapel, with Saint Teresa having used the "interior castle" as a symbol of the soul. While appearing to be "Gothic nonsense", Gado argued that Minus was attempting to tell David that he has always fallen short of greatness as a writer, and that Minus' character uses art to explain his failings in love, in much the same way David retreats to writing to avoid being with Karin. Gado further argued that David's blindfolding before the performance signifies his eyes opening to reality. The fact that David plans to use Karin's condition as a source for his writing creates a "portrait of the artist as charlatan, windbag, and heartless exploiter", essayist Peter Matthews wrote. In the end, when David shares his thoughts of love as God to Minus, Gado believed Minus is most impressed not by the theory but the "face to face" encounter with his father and the sharing of love, signified in Minus' closing line "Papa spoke to me". In Karin's relationship with her husband, psychiatrist Barbara Young wrote Karin appears "withdrawn" sexually from Martin, but her sexuality is "still alive in her psychosis". Young observed what she described as a "flirtatious" relationship she has with Minus, and when she hears voices, she "massages her thighs in a sexual way". Her sexuality and knowledge of Minus' sexual frustration is what leads her to incest with Minus, and why they defy the incest taboo, Young wrote. She believed it was this