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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Beneath a Scarlet Sky, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
War and Morality
Coming of Age
The Power of Music
Love and Death
Summary
Analysis
Leyers and Dolly return from their date and Leyers dismisses Pino for the day. Pino returns home and finds Mimo, who’s come home to visit. Mimo tells Pino that he plans to join the partisans, though he doesn’t say this to his parents. It is a jolly reunion until Mimo spots a swastika armband sticking out of Pino’s pocket. Mimo yells at Pino and calls him a traitor. In response, Pino punches his brother in the face. Michele comes in to break up the fight and Pino storms off to his room.
After losing Carletto, Mimo’s anger is a devastating blow to Pino and he reacts physically. Not even Michele knows the truth and Pino believes he must keep it that way. This is a mature decision for Pino to make. It would be easy to tell his family the truth, to vindicate himself, but he doesn’t because he knows that doing so would put them in harm’s way. Instead, he lets them continue to believe that he’s an active member of the Nazi party.
Themes
A few weeks later, Pino drives with Leyers to the Apennine Mountains. Pino watches as Leyers meets with high-ranking officers. Additionally, he sees enslaved people laboring all around him. When Pino follows Leyers to leave, he watches as a Nazi soldier hits a laborer that looks like Antonio with the butt of his gun. This sends the man tumbling over a cliff to his death. This sight disgusts Pino and his hatred for Leyers exponentially increases.
Although Leyers doesn’t spend his days actively watching over the men the Nazis enslaved, he does have power over what happens to them. The fact that he chooses to do nothing sickens Pino, as the horrors he witnesses grow increasingly more repulsive.
Themes
Later, Pino returns to Albert and tells him what he’s seen. Luckily, the time Pino spends with Leyers allows him to see the weaknesses in the German defenses and he relates this information to his uncle. Additionally, Albert tells Pino that he has a code name: Observer. The name is deliberately vague, so as to obscure Pino’s identity. After this meeting, Pino finds himself missing Anna, so he heads to Dolly’s apartment to find her. He goes around the back way and tosses pebbles at her window until she answers. Anna lets him into the apartment briefly and the two of them eat and talk in Anna’s room. After dinner, Pino wants to stay longer, but Anna tells him he must go.
Pino manages to calm his conscience because of the valuable information he gains by spending time with Leyers. The name Albert gives to Pino not only keeps Pino safe, but also anyone who gets questioned about Pino. If the only name a prisoner can provide the Nazis is “Observer,” then there is little the Nazis can do. Also, this section shows that Anna is both a strength and a weakness for Pino. On the one hand, she gives him the courage to continue on. On the other, he engages in risky behavior in order to see her, which could end up hurting both of them.
Themes
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In September of 1944, the British begin to break through many of the German defenses surrounding Italy. This makes General Leyers a busy man. One day, early in September, Pino and Leyers go to the Fiat factory where they speak to a man named Calabrese. Leyers tells Calabrese that he needs more lorries, and he promises the Germans will pay for them. Calabrese is skeptical of Leyers’s promises and asks to speak to one of his higher-ups for confirmation. This enrages Leyers, who calls Hitler, and Pino listens as the Führer barks orders at Calabrese.
Here, General Leyers demonstrates the full extent of his power to Pino and Calabrese. He truly does have the ability to contact the Führer himself, a fact that makes him simultaneously more impressive and more repugnant.
Themes
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From the Fiat factory, Leyers asks Pino to drive him back to Dolly’s. On their way home, they are attacked by a fighter pilot. Pino takes control of the situation and drives into a cluster of trees to avoid being seen. He plays a game of cat-and-mouse with the pilot, which pleases Leyers. Eventually, Pino thinks they are safe, and he gets out of the car. However, almost immediately, he hears the aircraft again and sprints toward a nearby ditch. He urges Leyers to do the same.
This is the first time Pino’s lessons from Alberto, along with his ingenuity, really come in handy when driving Leyers. Despite the attempt on his life, Leyers cannot help but be excited by Pino’s abilities. However, just as Pino and Leyers think they are safe, the plane returns, and the chapter ends on another cliffhanger.
Themes
