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Chapter 17
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
London continues its journey across what used to be Europe. It runs into some towns where people speak Slavic languages, and it eats many of them up. Soon, however, the people of London notice an even bigger city called Panzerstadt-Bayreuth, and they fear London is in danger.
The name Panzerstadt-Bayreuth suggests a city that is from what used to be Germany. The panzer was the name of a German tank in World War II, and so “Panzerstadt” roughly translates to “tank city.”
Themes
Meanwhile, Katherine doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on outside London. After what she witnessed in the Gut, she feels like she can’t just go back to school and pretend everything is normal, so she stops going. Then, three days into London’s retreat from Panzerstadt-Bayreuth, she gets a letter from someone who claims to be “A Friend” with information to tell her. The letter requests a meeting at a place called Pete’s Eats by Belsize Park.
The secret and serious nature of the letter Katherine receives contrasts with the less serious restaurant name Pete’s Eats, suggesting that perhaps her informant is not the master spy that they’re pretending to be.
Themes
Although Katherine distrusts the letter at first, eventually she heads to Pete’s Eats at Belsize Park. There, she sees Pod sitting at a table. He introduces himself, saying his first name is Bevis. Katherine is happy to see him, although she finds that the food in the restaurant looks disgusting and even the tea tastes chemical.
Pete’s Eats is supposed to be a futuristic version of fast food. For the lower-class Pod, the food is a special treat, but for Katherine the food is barely edible, showing how a person’s class can affect their perceptions.
Themes
Pod reveals to Katherine that actually, he did see Hester when Tom was chasing her. He confirms that she jumped down a waste chute but didn’t drag Tom with her (despite what Valentine said). Just then, smoke clouded the area, and Pod didn’t see any more until the police started to arrive.
Although Pod did witness some important events, the bad timing of the smoke means that he didn’t see the crucial moment when Valentine pushed Tom down the trash chute. Even if he had seen everything, at this point in the story, Katherine might not be willing to accept that her father would do such a thing.
Themes
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Still at the restaurant, Pod asks Katherine if Valentine can do anything to help prisoners in the Gut. Katherine assures him that if Valentine knew what was going on, he’d do something. Pod explains more about the Gut, including that the K Division is an experimental part of the Engineerium where dead bodies go. Rumor has it, the dead bodies become Stalkers. But the new Stalkers won’t be soldiers like the Resurrected Men from before—instead, they will be workers to replace the dead ones in the Gut.
Just as the old civilizations did before the Sixty Minute War, Crome and the Engineers are trying to make it so that not even death stops them from exploiting people below them. The new workers would blend the line between living and dead, showing just how expendable the old workers are in the current system.
Themes
Katherine asks Pod if the new Stalkers have anything to do with MEDUSA. Pod goes pale and says MEDUSA is supposed to be a Guild secret. Supervisors talk about MEDUSA as if it will be the answer to all of London’s problems. Katherine learns about an upcoming Guild meeting, and after Pod refuses to pose as a Guildsman for it, Katherine decides she must infiltrate it instead, to see what MEDUSA is and why it’s causing her father trouble.
Katherine is more willing to be bold because she is less likely to face consequences for her actions than Pod. Nevertheless, this passage shows that she has a growing awareness of her responsibility to try to help people like Pod who are stuck in the Gut.
Themes
