In Stephen Crane's naturalist story, the repetition of the term "sacred cheese" invokes the idea of unable to see the good in a situationattempting to find the good in a bad eventrunning wearily in a circle or on a wheelseeming powerless and caught in a trap. This idea is in keeping with the theme of the story that humans are made to be punished by the supernaturalled by free-will and self-determinationsubservient to nature's powerat the mercy of their creations.