Literary critic Jean-Marie Apostolidès of Stanford University, in a psychoanalytical review of "The Crab with the Golden Claws", commented that this book witnessed Tintin's "real entrance into the community of human beings" as he gains an "older brother" in Haddock. He also believed that the recurring image of alcohol throughout the story was symbolic of sexuality. In particular, he believed that there was a strong homoerotic subtext between Haddock and Tintin, represented in the two delirious sequences; in one, Haddock envisions Tintin as a champagne bottle frothing at the top (thereby symbolising an ejaculating penis), while in the other, Tintin dreams that he is trapped inside a bottle, with Haddock about to stick a corkscrew into him (thereby symbolising sexual penetration). However, Apostolidès notes, in both instances the pair are prevented from realising their sexual fantasies. Literary critic Tom McCarthy concurred with Apostolidès on this point, also highlighting what he perceived as homoerotic undertones to these two scenes. He also noted that in this "Adventure", the manner in which a chance finding of a tin can on a Belgian street leads Tintin into the story is representative of the recurring theme of "Tintin the detective" found throughout the series.