Moore examines the ways in which Human Toll explores anxieties about female sexuality, arguing that "terror arises out of a woman's perception of the horror that surrounds female sexuality as a social construction and a projection of male fears". Moore demonstrates that, in Human Toll, Baynton endows Ursula with the capacity to escape the cycle of a "woman's trajectory". Given the power to recognise inhibiting stereotypes, Ursula takes control of her quest for self-knowledge and her desire to be a writer.