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Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mortal Engines, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Social Class
Sacrifice
Dangers of Technology
The Importance of History
Prejudice and First Impressions
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Katherine arranges a meeting with Crome to find out more about what her father, Valentine, is doing. She goes to meet him at his office at the Guildhall. When Katherine arrives for her meeting, Crome tells her he just received a radio message from her father saying that his mission is going well. He asks if she wants to talk about anything else. After some hesitation, Katherine brings up Hester.
Katherine’s decision to bring up Hester to Valentine is clearly a bad idea, given what happened when Tom did the very same thing to Valentine. Her decision to bring up the topic with Crome shows her naivety, but it also shows her privilege, since unlike Tom, Katherine seemingly faces no consequences for bringing up her question.
Themes
Crome frowns and says if Valentine didn’t tell Katherine who Hester was, he probably had a good reason. Katherine wonders if any of this has to do with MEDUSA. Crome looks even more alarmed at this. He tells her not to look into the matter anymore. Katherine leaves the mayor’s office but doesn’t want to give up. Suddenly, she remembers another apprentice who was nearby when Tom fell down the waste chute. She wonders if that apprentice knows anything.
Katherine knows that something unusual is going on, but she also doesn’t seem to realize the potential danger she’s in. Readers, however, know that Crome is dangerous, and so this passage uses Katherine’s ignorance to build suspense.
Themes
