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Chapter 21
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
After Pino’s latest report to Albert, Albert asks Pino for a favor. Because the Nazis are getting good at finding radio signals, he wants to sneak a radio into Pino’s home and splice it into the cable the Germans use to broadcast. He believes this will confuse the Germans while still allowing the rebellion to get its messages out. Pino agrees to the plan. However, before they can carry it out, Albert decides it’s time to tell Michele the truth about everything. Pino tells Michele what he’s been up to for the past several months and his father is surprised, but proud of him.
Finally, Pino gets to reveal the truth to his father, which is liberating for him. Meanwhile, Albert’s idea for the radio is rather ingenious. Not only will they be able to continue to broadcast, but they can also potentially turn the Germans against one another in the process.
Themes
The next night, Pino eats dinner with Anna and asks her if she will help him smuggle in the radio. She agrees to help. They carry out the plan on Christmas Eve. They hide the radio in a briefcase with a false bottom that they then fill with bottles of wine. Pino and Anna start drinking to get themselves appropriately drunk for what they plan to do. Next, they go to Pino’s home arm-in-arm and act visibly drunk. The Nazis notice them, but Pino gets on their good side by telling him he works under Leyers and by giving them bottles of wine. Their plan works, and they successfully get the radio upstairs.
Pino relies on the holiday to provide him with appropriate cover. His plan is smart, and it works, but it is not without its risks. The fact that both Anna and Pino are willing to put their lives on the line speaks to the love and trust they have in one another. It also demonstrates their allegiance to the Allied cause.
Themes
Once upstairs, Anna reveals to Pino that she is a widow. Previously, she married an army officer named Christian who served in the war and immediately got himself killed. Anna barely knew Christian and tells Pino that she was not in love with him. In response, Pino tells Anna that he loves her and doesn’t care if she is a widow. The two spend the night together and sleep with each other for the first time.
This moment completes Anna’s tragic backstory, and now Pino feels as though they thoroughly know one another. Here, their relationship turns physical, as Pino continues his evolution from a boy to a man.
Themes
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