Selfish actions, Selfish man but so far a good read

When we had started working on this book, you mentioned that regardless of anything we may get out of it the book is centered around a man and his penis of sexual needs/wants. At first I didn't think that would be completely true, but even with other things going on as I read everything goes back to that, It may not be done by the character himself but there are alot of undertones and instances in the novel that can be considered sexual I understand that we were told to focus on one particular passage in order to prove our answer but I think that my answer goes beyond a passage. Also I feel like the barbarian girl symbolizes perhaps more civilized people coming to some how modernize supposed savages. Though I agree the magistrate did what he did for love, what kind of love is that? Even though he does come to care about her as the book progresses from what I understand, he still seems distant and withdrawn from his actions. This can be seen in "Dreamless spells are like death to me, or enchantment blank and outside time" This first starts on (pg 28) when he washes her feet. He's obviously in some way turned on my this and as she later "yields to everything" he does to her cited (pg 30) He also notes that he himself found on (p 33)

From the beginning my desire has not been to enter her, my desire has not taken on that direction, that directness lodging my dry old mans member in that hot-blooded-sheath makes me think of acid in milk ashes in honey, chalk in bread. When I look at her body I find it hard to believe that once upon a time I imagined the human for as a flower radiating out from a kernel in the loins.

(pg 33) Hr objectifies her here but at the same time he tries to remember another time when he knew her as less civilized. He tries to make it seem like she has been made into a better person because she is staying with him but he has tainted her in the process. To say that the magistrate's actions were out of love would mean that they weren't for the sake of the barbarian woman but himself, even if he does seem like he is doing things to help her out as I said earlier it all reverts back to him, as a negative when he dies I felt like his actions have come to fruition. He may see the error of his ways too late but this does not stop the inevitable. The reason I said that the barbarian girl represented savages being modernized is because as a country according to history American's have always tried to force other places or people in the world to emulate them. Even if this does ruin the overall culture as a whole or the people themselves, it all doesn't seem to matter as long as who they are attempting to fix/colonize resemble them in the end in some form of fashion