Sex
Sex is the main motif in all the stories. It is at the center in each of them, driving the plot. In the two stories about the eccentric uncle, Oswald Cornelius, it is connected to his misogynistic views of women and of the act. He is a self-centered character who boasts in his entries about his accomplishment in catching the female prey, and then moving onto the next one. He boasts how he exhorts animalistic attraction to the opposite sex. Women are a mere sexual tool to him, and he doesn't see value in them. The second story of his adventures takes on a biological exploration of sex and attraction and the potion imaginatively called "Bitch" that makes men behave as sex-driven animals, can be seen as a satirical portrayal of the act.
Wealth
To Oswald Cornelius wealth is immediately associated with manners, with security and good will. In the first story of his adventures in Egypt he looks down upon the poor Arabs and is elated seeing a wealthy man coming to his rescue. Wealth is a motif that builds the unlikable and problematic character of Oswald Cornelius and his twisted views of the world, as proven at the end of that story.
Suicide and revenge
"The Last Act" is a story that, at first, portrays a woman battling with her depression and attempts of suicide, who finally finds purpose and self-recovery with helping others. In a moment of weakness she decides to contact her love from high school and from there on the story becomes a story of revenge. The man she contacted is full of vengeful intentions, and after bringing her to the edge, leaves her while she is about to commit suicide. The story is problematic in its understated portrayal of cruelty, hopelessness and twisted human nature.
