Burning and the Doll

J.M. Coetzee uses burnign as a motif throughout much of his novel. This may be used to detail the emosions that are running through Mrs. Curren and to help relate these emotions back to the reader. The reference that I am speaking of comes on page 124, where Coetzee actually plays two analogies into one reference.
"Do you want to know why I set my mind on burning myself? Because I thought I would burn well. Whereas these people will not burn, Bheki and the other dead. It would be like trying to burn figures of pig iron or lead. They might lose their shapeness of contour, but whne the flames subsided they would still be there, heavy as ever" (124).
In this excerpt, I beleive that the two analogies of burning and the doll come into play. Mrs. Curren believes that she would "burn well", like a doll would burn when placed in the fire, and the reason for this is because she is completely empty inside. She compares herself to the doll in that she has nothing inside of her, no strong feelings for this land. That is why she would burn so drastically different than those like Bheki who are fighting for a cause, and even after the death of burning, their cause would remain. The memory of Bheki would stand the test of time because they are not empty like Mrs. Curren or a doll, rather they, and their message are as strong as iron.