Allies

When her section of the book begins, Monique is hiding in a local beach hut. The hut represents the shelter and safety that Monique longs for, and it can be seen as an extension of her “old” identity. However, her desire for this safety holds her back. This is communicated by the difference in the way that Monique experiences the different kinds of darkness inside and outside the hut. Inside, the darkness “engulf[s]” her (263), but once she steps outside, “…her eyes had long since adjusted to the night” (265) and she can navigate the once-familiar beach even though “it now looked like nothing she’d ever seen before” (265). Once she emerges from the hut and her desire for safety, even the familiar is transformed into new territory, just as her newfound confidence transforms her character. She has ventured out into the “new,” both literally and figuratively.

James’s home city of Winnipeg is symbolic of safety. It also reflects James’s characterization as “average” or “middling” when his section of the book begins: “Even his hometown, Winnipeg, Manitoba, was at the longitudinal center of Canada” (76). Isolated from places that the Axis powers would invade North America first, as Sam points out (78-79), Winnipeg represents safety and distance from danger. Even the “If Day” demonstration is devoid of any real threat because everyone knows that it’s only a simulation. It does, however, motivate James to join the military. The fact that James leaves the point of safety to enter into the highly dangerous war zone, even though he thought he would be assigned to a safer role (77), indicates his deep-seated desire to be more than “average” and to find a meaningful contribution to the world, just like Monique leaving her beach hut.