The City & the City

by

China Miéville

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The City & the City makes teaching easy.

The City & the City: Chapter 17 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Borlú and Dhatt go to Bol Ye’an, where the bomb was discovered by Aikam. The package in which it was placed was addressed to David Bowden. A man shows Borlú that someone wrote the phrase, “The heart of a wolf” in Illitan on it. Dhatt explains, “It’s an old motherland song.” Dhatt observes that the bomb was designed to target a single individual, not cause widespread damage or chaos. It was sent from Besźel, from a post office “grosstopically” close, although it would have travelled a long distance via Copula Hall to arrive at Bol Ye’an.
The details of the crime point to conflicting perpetrators. The line from an Ul Qoman “motherland song” suggests that it was sent by Ul Qoman nationalists. However, the post office that it was sent from is in Besźel. Of course, the nationalists may have chosen this post office to throw investigators off the case—or perhaps someone in Besźel is trying to frame the Ul Qoman nationalists.
Themes
Crime vs. Punishment Theme Icon
Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Illicit Knowledge Theme Icon
Speaking to Dhatt, Borlú points out that Mahalia angered the nationalists back in Besźel, and that although the equivalent groups are technically banned in Ul Qoma, it’s possible they might have been vengeful against her, too. The officers then speak to Aikam, congratulating him on his discovery and asking how he knew what a bomb felt like. Aikam replies that he didn’t, he just noticed it was suspiciously heavy. Next they speak to Professor Nancy and the head security guard, Kai Buidze. They ask if Bowden often receives mail at the site and Nancy replies that he doesn’t—he technically doesn’t even have an address there. 
The fact that a bomb has been sent to an adjunct professor at an archeological dig shows how politically charged and fraught knowledge can be. This is particularly true in a place like Besźel/Ul Qoma, where history is highly contested and has a significant bearing on the way the political landscape of the present operates. 
Themes
Crime vs. Punishment Theme Icon
Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Illicit Knowledge Theme Icon
Nancy explains that, although Bol Ye’an has never been subject to attack before, Bowden himself has. Borlú begins to speculate that the package may have been from an Ul Qoman nationalist based in Besźel, who sent it from a Besź address in an attempt to obscure its actual origin. Dhatt emphasizes that in Ul Qoma, nationalists are not allowed to congregate like they are in Besźel, and are not treated with the same lenience as unificationists, who are not taken seriously as a threat. Dhatt asks about Aikam, whom Buidze describes as “dumb” and friends with some of the students, including Yolanda but not Mahalia.
In both Besźel and Ul Qoma, dissident groups like unificationists and nationalists are subject to state repression and surveillance. Yet this differs significantly in degree. As Dhatt points out here, being subject to extra repression is not necessarily evidence that a particular group is more out of line with the government’s position—rather, it can simply be because the group is perceived as a more forceful threat.
Themes
Borders and Doubles Theme Icon
Crime vs. Punishment Theme Icon
Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Illicit Knowledge Theme Icon
Borlú then asks why, considering the site is full of foreign students (who usually have an interest in this sort of thing), no one has mentioned Breach. Buidze puts up his hands and admits that the reason is that students there, like all foreigners, breach all the time. As long as they remain discreet about it, Breach will not punish them. Bol Ye’an is a highly crosshatched area, and the students working there avoid discussing Breach because they know “they’re all guilty as hell.” After Buidze leaves, Dhatt gets a phone call informing him that Bowden is missing from his apartment. 
At this point in the narrative, most of the information about the crime seems to be vaguely present, but none of it is coming together in any coherent way. Meanwhile, the escalation of disappearances and threats means that time is running out for the case to be solved.
Themes
Borders and Doubles Theme Icon
Seeing vs. Unseeing Theme Icon
Crime vs. Punishment Theme Icon
Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Illicit Knowledge Theme Icon
Get the entire The City & the City LitChart as a printable PDF.
The City & the City PDF