Birnam Wood

“It occurred to Mira that the image might have been captured mere moments before the quakes: the motorists pictured might now be dead. She told herself this experimentally, as if testing for a pulse; it was a private habit, formed in girlhood, to berate herself with morbid hypotheticals. Today she could not muster pity, so as penance she compelled herself to imagine being crushed and suffocated, holding the thought in her mind’s eye for several seconds before exhaling and turning back to the map.”

This early moment of characterization gives the reader insight into the conflicted nature of Mira’s personality. For a moment, she’s the serious adult who understands the gravity of the tragedy and the expected response. It only takes seconds, however, before the other selfish, child-like side of Mira gets bored, gives up, and resumes her upbeat internet search. It’s an example of what Tony later notes: Mira has a soul, she’s just sold it, highlighting the theme of Compromising Morality in Service to a Cause.

“[A]nd his two most treasured possessions, both presents from his father, were his .22 air rifle and his skinning knife, which had a fixed blade and a boxwood handle, and which he’d since had mounted, together with the rifle, in a special presentation case in his front room.”

As a screenwriter, Eleanor Catton often utilizes the language and conventions of drama, one being known as “Chekhov’s gun.” This convention is similar to foreshadowing; playwright Anton Chekhov stated that everything shown to the audience at the beginning must be used at the end. Catton plays a literary joke by following the rule with a literal gun. Sir Owen’s prized rifle is described in depth here. The payoff comes at the end when Lady Darvish shoots Lemoine with the same gun. This is not Catton’s only use of the device, and instances of tongue-in-cheek