My drawing depicts a smiling nun in a pot surrounded by cannibals. I know at first it seems more literal than anything else but I'll explain. The nun (just a regular old nun, nothing Sister Catherine-y about her), represents Sister Catherine. The pot she's boiling in is her situation. She is surrounded by lepers all day and all night. The pot and firewood looks like a skull because her situation will likely result in death. Around her are a bunch of cannibals. They represent the things around her that 'stir up the pot', so to speak. The one closest to her represents leprosy. It is the thing she is most scared of and she would rather die than contract it. To the far left is Rachel. She loves Rachel but Rachel is a leper, making it difficult for Sister Catherine to fully show her appreciation. There is also the guilt from slapping Rachel looming over her at all times. The cannibal on the bottom represents Kalaupapa. It is the place she hates the most. She constantly wishes that she never came in the first place. The Kalaupapa cannibal is the one adding fuel to the fire because she can never get away from it. She can lock herself in her room to avoid everything else but she would still be imprisoned on the island. The cannibal all the way on the right represents the other nuns. Sister Catherine is disgusted by lepers and always has to hide it from the other sisters. None of the others have thrown up while bandaging wounds and that embarrasses Sister Catherine. While Sister Catherine is in the pot, she has a forced smile (does it look forced? Its supposed to look forced.) on her face. She doesn't know how to really smile in the cannibal's pot yet but she is trying. She wants to be happy with what she has been given but can't fully appreciate being trapped on an island full of very sick, very contagious patients.
(Also, her habit is covering her eyes like a blindfold but I can't remember what I meant by that. I probably thought it was clever at the time.)
