Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mortal Engines, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Social Class
Sacrifice
Dangers of Technology
The Importance of History
Prejudice and First Impressions
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
After jumping out of their balloon, Tom and Hester walk all night toward London. In the morning, they realize they’re at the edge of the Rustwater Marshes, nearly a thousand miles away from London. They keep walking for the rest of the day but aren’t sure what to do next. That night, after Tom goes to sleep, Hester suddenly wakes him up. They hear the engine of an airship and realize it must be Shrike.
Tom and Hester are even farther away from London than when they started, representing how Shrike’s sudden appearance was a major setback for them. The predatory nature of Shrike mimics the predatory nature of the city of London itself.
Themes
In the airship, Shrike can indeed see Tom and Hester with his heat vision. Shrike’s pilot complains that if Shrike can do this, they shouldn’t have wasted time chasing the empty balloon. But Shrike wanted to reward Hester for cleverness, although he doesn’t tell the pilot that.
Although Shrike might seem totally ruthless, a part of him seems to still care for Hester. He doesn’t quite know how to process these feelings, however, so he acts like a predator playing with its prey.
Themes
Below, Hester and Tom run from the airship. Shrike calls out to them, saying the hunt is over. Hester asks how Shrike even ended up in London. He reveals he sold his collection of old relics in order to charter an airship and make it to London before Hester. In London, Crome took Shrike to the Engineerium for experiments, which Shrike expected. He endured being taken apart all because Crome promised him his “heart’s desire,” in exchange for killing Hester.
Shrike gave up everything for his “heart’s desire,” which hasn’t been revealed yet. This passage builds suspense for the eventual reveal of Shrike’s goal by detailing all of the suffering he went through in order to achieve his goal. Shrike’s single-minded focus on his goal shows how obsession can consume people.
Themes
All of a sudden, there’s a loud rumbling sound. A town comes out of the fog and runs over Shrike and his airship. Tom and Hester are both shocked for a moment. They wonder what the town is running away from so quickly. Soon, a second town races their way. Hester and Tom dodge the wheels and grab a ride on the new town.
Although the sudden appearance of these towns helps Tom and Hester make a convenient escape, it also warns them that something big and dangerous is headed their way.
Themes
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The town is Tunbridge Wheels, and it’s small, more of a suburb. The place seems deserted and large parts of it are rusting away. Tom notices a flag and realizes it must be a pirate suburb. Men and women with large guns emerge from the fog. Meanwhile, a still-alive Shrike tries to work his way out of the mud, tracking the movement of Tunbridge Wheels with his heat vision.
The pirate suburb of Tunbridge Wheels (named after the English town of Tunbridge Wells, about 30 miles outside London) suggests yet another type of life outside of London. Like the slave-trader Wreyland, the pirates have had to become ruthless in order to survive in the difficult world outside of London.
Themes
