Sexual imagery
Kierkegaard betrays one of his own insights of imagery in this discussion of sex. In real life, the author has broken up with his fiancée, and now he writes a compelling essay about the deceptive nature of sexual pleasure. Specifically, he invokes the ecstatic operas of Mozart, and he gives special mention to Don Juan, which is fitting in the imagery, because young Johanne Climacus is a Don-Juanist himself, and his is certainly oriented as his name suggests, to personal climax. Why would he ever get married? Marriage leads to boredom and lowered libido. While he womanizes, he feels like a god in heaven. Upon that conclusion, he is invited into a conversation with God himself, a conversation which the man declines, because it is more intriguing to wonder what the letter says than to open it—a symbol for his fear of commitment.
Commitment, marriage, and boredom
To say, "There is an imagery about commitment," would be quite an understatement. That is only the concrete half of this imagery; the real value in this imagery is in the abstract imagery. The question isn't whether the boy experiences a fear of commitment, but how he feels specifically about commitment. Is it just a casual phobia? It isn't. The truth is shown through dialogue and prose; in reality, he fears marriage, commitment, and boredom with a religious horror. He is terrified of existence, and of fate. Namely, he is phobic about experiencing thoughts of death, God, and judgment.
Judgment and divine intervention
That's where God steps into the essay. He appears as "The Judge," and he himself pens a letter to young climactic Johannes Climacus. This letter appears in Part One as a symbol for meaning, because it is a literal letter from God, but Climacus is debating whether it is better open, where its meaning is fixed, or whether its meaning is better when the letter is still in the future as a thing that can be experienced eventually. The divine intervention is shown in that imagery as perfectly optional. How would Climacus heal himself of his phobia and rise to the height of religious wonder that his soul craves? By voluntarily accepting responsibility and boredom.
God, religion, and the soul
God is shown through elaborate imagery as a horrifying Judge with an ironic spin. He is horrifying to Climacus because he is unknown. The drama of adult life for Climacus is that by repenting of his philandering, he could become eligible to the religious experience of true love and marriage, to the wonders of family. There is only one problem. He is addicted to stimulation, and the grandiose nature of God's art demands a more patient audience. God is therefore the force in Climacus's unconcious which is hidden from his ego by fear and shame, and which if allowed his chance to speak to Climacus, would surprise him with ultimate stimulation—a love letter from the very creator God himself, designed to elevate the soul to an experience of true majesty and wonder.
