As Oedipa moves through a series of interactions with strange characters, many of which are in some way sexual, she sets up a series of defense mechanisms which are reflected through metaphorical symbols and the style of narration. When Metzger asks her to play Strip Botticelli, Oedipa, in a scene that is a mixture of troubling and amusing, puts on every item of clothing she brought to the hotel with her until she resembles a “beach ball with feet” (24). This reflects another scene in which a man makes an unwanted sexual advance–when Roseman, completely unprompted, asks her to run away with him. As he plays footsie with her under the table, the narrator says “She was wearing boots, and couldn’t feel much of anything. So, insulated, she decided not to make any fuss” (10). Oedipa’s literal insulating of herself, relying on external protection to keep her safe from these men, may be a physical reflection of the guarded narrative style that is meant to destabilize the reader. In the Roseman scene in particular, the events are described to the reader in a removed, matter-of-fact manner that seems to leave out grounding facts that would contextualize the scene for the reader. This is a pattern throughout the novel, and the guarded, removed narrative style strikes me as a manifestation of an important aspect of Oedipa’s character.