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The Promotion
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Night Watchman, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Solidarity, and Community Action
Oppression and Supposed Good Intentions
Humor and Pain
Sex, Violence, and Gender
Agency and Exploitation
Summary
Analysis
Harry Roy, a retired army medic, sees Vera sleeping by the highway. He carries her to his car and brings her to her home. He gives her a soup with tender meat, carrots, onions, barley. Vera’s not afraid of the dog, Edith, but she trembles when Harry comes into the room. He has records that belonged to his mother, and he puts on something calming, Debussy, and waits.
After the countless people (men in particular) who have brutalized and exploited Vera, she finally comes across someone whose intentions seem to be only to help. Still, because of everything that has happened, she can’t help but be afraid of him.
Themes
