"She led him to the top of the stairs, where light came straight from the sky because the second-story windows of that house had been placed in the pitched ceiling and not the walls. There were two rooms and she took him into one of them hoping he wouldn't mind the fact that she was not prepared that though she could remember desire, she had forgotten how it worked; the clutch and helplessness that resided in the hands; how blindness was altered so that what lept to the eye were places to lie down, and all else-doorknobs,straps, hooks, the sadness that crouched in the corners, and the passing of time- was interference."

The main psychoanalytical theme seen in this paragraph is the idea of helpless desire. Sethe refers to desire as having "the clutch and helplessness that resided in the hands". This shows her internal connection with desire and sexual activity to helplessness. This is most likely derived from her days in slavery and the importance placed on sex in the place. She mentions the "sadness that crouched in the corners". Sex is usually not connected with the idea of sadness and being crouched in corners. Crouching in a corner is a sign of vulnerability and fear and ultimately the idea of being helpless. Due to the intense sexual drives of the men on the plantation, she is inherently targeted even though they do not necessarily act on it. She still however has to pick one of them. She ultimately has no control over the situation and the men can overpower her. She also mentions the "straps, [and] hooks". These objects are usually used for restraint. This can be connected to the idea of being controlled and being helpless. She has grown up in this world in which sex is to be overpowered. She confuses the physical desires of her body with the emotional connection to the action. She has the physical desire which in the past has come with the idea of helplessness. This causes her definition of desire to change and become a more fearful and entrapped notion to her.