Buck Titus singlehandedly makes it possible for the Jessup family to escape—clearly, they wouldn’t have been able to make this treacherous drive without him. Thus, Lewis again emphasizes how, under tyranny, social networks are the foundation of effective political resistance and, often, the key to survival. Readers already know what is happening to the numerous dissidents who never get the opportunity to escape: the government executes and imprisons all of them.