We are bound to our bodies like an oyster is to its shell

An oyster shell opened up after the 2002 Olympics.

This animal grows like crazy, investing nothing in its shell,

This animal grows like crazy, investing nothing in its shell.

Then the world's mine oyster.

Charlotte sighed inwardly. She knew her mother was serious when she started referring to shellfish. What did that mean, anyway? What's so great about the world being your oyster? Does that mean it's really hard to open, and when you do, you have something slimy and gross on the inside?