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City of Shadows: Chapter 26
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Shadow of the Wind, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Duality and Repetition
Possessive and Obsessive Love
Fathers, Sons, and Masculinity
Reality and the Written Word
Coincidence and Determinism
Summary
Analysis
As a storm gathers in the late afternoon, Daniel boards the bus to the Aldayas’ neighborhood. When he arrives at the house, the gate is open, and Daniel walks through the garden, noticing a statue of an avenging angel dumped unceremoniously in the empty fountain. Bea is waiting for him in the front hall and escorts him to the living room, where she lights a fire.
Angels are often symbols of piety and gentleness. However, the ones in the Aldaya house are aggressive and threatening, lending the house an ominous aura. Moreover, the avenging angel appears toppled in the fountain, a distinctly undignified position. Whatever its erstwhile power, it doesn’t seem able to fight anyone now.
Themes
Bea reveals that her father’s firm owns the property, which was how she was able to obtain the key. In fact, the house is nicknamed “The Angel of Mist” and was the Aldayas’ summer house, while their main house was in the city center. “The Angel of Mist” has a reputation for being cursed, and has been impossible to sell for the past fifteen years.
Mr. Aguilar’s ownership of the house is another coincidence that’s too good to be true, suggesting that a kind of destiny is guiding Daniel towards both Bea and the house. Given the angel statue in the garden, the house’s moniker suggests a supernatural but not necessarily positive character.
Themes
