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Chapter 32
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
Two days later, Pino and Carletto go to the Hotel Diana, ready to embark on their mission. Major Knebel gives Pino and Carletto submachine guns and teaches them how they work. He tells them that they are going on an escort mission to Brenner Pass. Their goal is to deliver “a friend of America” to safety. Shockingly, the friend of America turns out to be Leyers. At first, Pino refuses to help Leyers, but Knebel insists that he is a hero. Eventually, Pino agrees to drive Leyers, but only because he secretly plans to execute him when he gets the chance.
Leyers’s reappearance makes sense given his sudden and anticlimactic departure from the novel. The question, now, is whether Leyers is what he appears to be. Pino still hates Leyers, largely because he blames him for Anna’s death, but could it be that he is missing something? If so, then his decision to try and execute Leyers is problematic.
Themes
Pino and Carletto begin their escort mission. Along the way, they are shot at by a group of men blocking the road. Carletto fires back as Pino drives, but accidently drops his gun. Leyers laughs once they are past the men and tells Pino that he handpicked him for the mission because of his driving skills. Toward the end of the drive, their car is fired upon by an American tank. Once again, Pino manages to avoid the tank and gets them to safety. Shortly afterwards, Leyers tells Pino to stop the car so he can pee. Pino does so and then decides to seize the moment.
Leyers’s laughter is frustrating for Pino, who deeply wants his former boss punished. Once again, the driving skills Alberto taught Pino come in handy as he gets them through various obstacles. When Pino stops the car so Leyers can urinate, the novel approaches its climax, as Pino moves to assassinate him.
Themes
While Leyers’s back is turned, he takes the remaining gun and points it at him. Leyers is confused by Pino’s anger until Pino tells him about what happened to Dolly and Anna. Leyers seems genuinely surprised and saddened by the news. However, he also places some of the blame on Pino. Leyers was on his way home to check on Dolly and Anna before Pino arrested him. Pino takes Leyers’s point to heart and decides he is just as much to blame for Anna’s death as Leyers.
Once again, Leyers is an ambiguous character. Whether he actually wanted to check on Dolly and Anna is unclear. He may only be saying so to manipulate Pino. On the other hand, he may be telling the truth, in which case Pino is partially to blame for Anna’s death. Ultimately, Pino decides to spare Leyers’s life, but it is unclear whether he is doing the right thing—or if there is a right thing to do in the first place.
Themes
