Lamia

“Lamia” is Palinurus Maciver Junior’s metaphor for Kay Kafka: he describes her as an enchantress who hides a serpent beneath an apparently ordinary manner. The allusion gives his account of her composure a double edge, expressing both his sense of menace and his frustration at how readily she can make troubling events seem not to have happened.

The expression

Palinurus says Kay is more than an actress: “she’s Lamia. She uses enchantment to hide the fact that she is really a serpent.” The image is his characterization, not an independent account of supernatural power. It casts her charm as concealment and makes the serpent beneath it a figure for the danger he believes her outward composure disguises.

Context and narrative significance

The comparison follows Kay’s departure from Palinurus and her immediate greeting of Helen in a voice he describes as perfectly normal. That contrast—what he says has just happened set against her seamless return to ordinary social behavior—gives the metaphor its force. Palinurus also recalls having called her a serpent before; Kay responded as if he had complimented her, connecting his poetic language to a shared love of poetry. The exchange leaves him feeling that she knows how to get under his skin, so “Lamia” conveys not only accusation but also the personal hold her performance has over him.