Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Beneath a Scarlet Sky, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
War and Morality
Coming of Age
The Power of Music
Love and Death
Summary
Analysis
Once the plane is far away, Pino calls out to Leyers and eventually receives a weak reply. Seeing that Leyers is okay, Pino moves to their vehicle and makes the necessary repairs. Leyers tells him that they will need to switch to a vehicle that is more conspicuous, and Pino agrees. On the drive home, Leyers gives Pino some whisky and compliments him again for his performance. Leyers also tells Pino that he reminds him of his son and his nephew, the latter of whom died in the war. For the first time, Leyers allows Pino to ask him about his personal life and Leyers opens up to him.
Here, the novel starts to humanize Leyers in a way that it hasn’t previously. Like everyone else, Leyers has a family who was tragically affected during the war. The distance between Leyers and Pino is not as great as Pino would like to believe; in fact, Leyers tells Pino that the two of them could almost be related. This moment doesn’t diminish Leyers’s actions throughout the rest of the novel, but it does complicate Pino’s notion that he is wholly evil.
Themes
Additionally, Pino asks Leyers about his relationship to Hitler. Leyers tells Pino that he works for Hitler but prefers to stay far away from him because he knows Hitler is a ticking time bomb. Leyers also gives Pino a piece of advice: the best way to get by in life is to perform favors for others. Leyers sees this as the key to continued success and survival. He also tells Pino that you never want to be the leader; it is better to be “a man of the shadows.”
Unlike someone such as Rauff, Leyers is not an unthinking cog in the Nazi war machine. He differs from his colleagues and superiors in numerous ways. He also knows that the war will not last forever and seems to be implying that Germany might lose. Additionally, if Leyers believes that the key to success and survival means performing favors, then that raises the question: who is he performing favors for during the war? Also, although Leyers refers to himself as “a man of the shadows,” such a description could also be used to describe Pino.
Themes
By the time Pino makes it back to Dolly’s place, Leyers is passed out in the back of the car. Pino goes upstairs and asks Dolly if she can come down and help him get the general upstairs. However, just as he is doing so, the general appears behind him, apparently able to take care of himself. Still in a jovial mood, Leyers tells Dolly, Anna, and Pino that they will spend the night celebrating Pino’s great deeds. Eventually, Leyers and Dolly go to Dolly’s bedroom, and Pino is left alone with Anna.
This version of Leyers is considerably different than the man that appeared up to this point in the novel. Perhaps this is a glimpse of who Leyers would be if there were not a war. Regardless, the celebration is doubly great for Pino; not only has he won Leyers’s favor, but he also gets to spend time with Anna.
Themes
Pino and Anna begin talking and soon the topic of conversation switches to Anna’s father. Anna tells Pino that she used to love boating with her father. However, tragically, one day they got caught up in a storm and their boat capsized. Anna was found and rescued, but her father was lost to the sea forever. Pino comforts Anna, who responds by saying that the story of her mother is even worse.
Although previously Anna and Pino’s relationship was predicated on escaping war and tragedy, now Anna decides to be open and honest with Pino about her background. This marks a shift in their relationship from something that is fantastical and innocent to something that is more mature and real.
Themes
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The following morning, Pino reports to Albert and Greta. By this time, things are starting to look bad for the Nazis. Unfortunately, what is bad for the Nazis is also bad for the people of Italy. In the following weeks, Pino is forced to watch as Leyers goes around to small farms and loots resources. Pino hates Leyers more than he ever has before, and Leyers can see it in his face. Leyers tells Pino that he understands why Pino would hate him, but he has no choice because he answers to a higher authority.
Leyers’s actions continue to horrify Pino, but in this passage the novel raises an important question: are Leyers’s actions so much worse than Pino’s? Both of them must answer to higher authorities. If they don’t, they put their own lives at risk, as well as the lives of their countrymen. Although Pino has yet to make this connection, it is certainly one that the novel invites the reader to ponder.
Themes
