Previous
Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The City & the City, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Borders and Doubles
Seeing vs. Unseeing
Crime vs. Punishment
Urban Life and Alienation
Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Illicit Knowledge
Summary
Analysis
There is another shot, which Borlú hears as he tackles Bowden to the ground, forcing him to drop his gun. Borlú tells everyone to get on the ground. Dhatt shouts that he is shot but okay, whereas Yolanda was shot in the head. Borlú looks up and sees that Yolanda is dead, while the shooter is running away, unimpeded. The shooter is a “nondescript” looking man wearing black trousers and a grey sweater. He disappears into the crowd. Borlú gets into a police car and starts to drive, hoping to catch the shooter; because he is still in his militsya uniform, no one stops him. He wonders where Breach is, but then realizes that, again, there has been no breach. The killer carefully ensured this was the case.
The presence of the second shooter indicates that although Bowden drew a weapon, it was not necessarily him who shot Dhatt and Yolanda. Indeed, there is no obvious connection between Bowden and the shooter other than the fact that they were in the same place at the same time and both had weapons.
Themes
Borlú brakes hard, stopped by cars in front. He gets out and stands on the car’s roof and allows himself to glance at the events in Besźel. Finally, he catches sight of the shooter and begins to follow him. Eventually, the shooter notices him and moves faster, and Borlú picks up his own pace, too. The shooter starts running, turning into an alley. Borlú finds it hard to keep up. The shooter runs into a Besź street, turns, and looks at Borlú. It is not obvious enough to be breach. Borlú recognizes him, although he can’t remember from where, and shoots him. The man falls, and Borlú hears the word “Breach” being repeated. The faceless figures descend, announcing both the “crime and [their] identity.” Something touches Borlú, and everything goes black.
This moment is the main climax of the entire novel. In killing the shooter, Borlú decides that stopping him is more important than the negative consequences of breaching. This is an expression of Borlú’s own idea of justice, which contrasts to the rules of Besźel and Ul Qoma. Indeed, this act can be interpreted as showing that in order to achieve true justice, it is sometimes necessary to disobey the rule of law.
Themes
