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Chapter 30
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
Before Pino can do anything drastic, Cardinal Schuster stops him. The cardinal knows the partisans are looking for a so-called traitor and he asks Pino if that refers to him. Pino tells the cardinal the details of the mix-up, including Anna’s tragic death. He also tells the cardinal that he thinks he is a coward for doing nothing to save Anna’s life. The cardinal tells Pino that Anna’s death was not his fault, but this does little to comfort him.
Religious figures play a crucial role in the darkest moments of Pino’s life. Like Father Re before him, Cardinal Schuster helps Pino walk back from the ledge, literally this time, and exonerates him. Although Pino still feels guilty, he respects the cardinal, and it is enough to keep him from ending his life.
Themes
Under the cover of dark, Pino returns home. There, he tells his parents about Mario’s death. Pino’s parents try to talk with him, but he is almost completely despondent. He goes to bed and falls asleep listening to the radio. The next morning, Michele and Albert force Pino to get out of bed to go looking for Mario’s body. All of the bodies littering the streets have been taken to Cimitero Monumentale. When Michele, Albert, and Pino arrive the cemetery, they see piles of bodies being brought in. Together, they look through the corpses, hoping to find Mario. Eventually Pino finds him. Shortly afterward, Albert comes up to Pino and apologizes for what happened to Anna. He’s found Anna’s body in the cemetery and understands now why Pino is so upset. Albert does not want to take Pino to her body, but Pino forces him to.
