In Part III, Death and Life in Death play a game of chance to determine the Mariner's fate. Life in Death wins the game and curses the sailor to his death, a paradox since life and death are opposed to each other. The Mariner is condemned to wander the seas, alone, neither alive nor dead. This curse signifies the Mariner's entry into the liminal phase between life and death. In this state of limbo, the Sailor also experiences other paradoxes, such as "the enchanted water [that] was always burning," which contributes to the strangeness of liminality, as the Sailor comes into contact with things he has never seen before ( Part IV ). The paradoxical nature of liminal stages creates ambiguity and alienation. The curse distances the Mariner from the rest of the world and leaves his status ambiguous, neither alive nor dead. Turning eighteen distances me from my childhood and leaves my role within my family ambiguous. Even though I am legally an adult, allowed to live independently and on my own and make my own choices, paradoxically I am still dependent on my parents and forced to follow their orders. In this paradox, I am neither a child nor a