Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The City & the City, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Borders and Doubles
Seeing vs. Unseeing
Crime vs. Punishment
Urban Life and Alienation
Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Illicit Knowledge
Summary
Analysis
In the streets, there is panic everywhere. People are running around in flight and glee; windows have been broken and fires started. Borlú spots a unificationist gang spray painting the words “TOGETHER! UNITY!” in both Besź and Illitan. Very quickly, the group is swarmed by Breach avatars moving so quickly they could hardly be seen. Ashil manages to open a parked car that does not belong to him. Judging from the conversations he is having in his earpiece, it’s obvious that there are simply not enough Breach in the cities. Borlú knows that huge numbers of unificationists will be put in camps following this incident. Ashil says he doubts this is all a decoy, and then says, after hearing something in his earpiece, “We’ve lost avatars.”
The utopian slogans of the unificationists present them in a sympathetic light, particularly compared to Breach, which doesn’t even seem to understand its own function. Why is it so important that the cities be kept separate—particularly at a moment in which citizens are demanding change and unity? This question never gets answered, and this in itself makes a point about the way in which laws can be self-justifying, with no rational explanation behind them.
Themes
As they near Sear and Core, they see a helicopter flying away, and Borlú announces that they’re too late. However, they go into the building anyway. A Besź security guard tries to stop them from entering, but Ashil tells him to back down, reminding him that the whole city is currently in Breach. He demands access to the helipad and says no one must be allowed to follow them. Up on the top floor, they spot four people: two who look like ultra-nationalists, a man in a suit, and someone else not properly in view. As they get nearer, Borlú is stunned to see that the final person is Mikhel Buric, a Social Democrat who sits on the Chamber of Commerce. It is him, not Syedr, who has organized the theft of the artefacts.
The end of the novel is more obviously political than everything that preceded it. Although the whole narrative describes a fraught political situation, thus far the position of the novel has been fairly neutral, although one recurring idea has been the arbitrary harm caused by borders. However, in this moment it is revealed that it is the social democrat political—not the nationalist—who is in bed with sinister corporate interests. This can certainly be read as a comment on real-life politics.
Themes
Borlú shouts at Buric, accusing him of murder and asking why a “liberal sellout” like himself would be hanging around nationalists. Buric replies, “We’re all patriots.” Ashil attempts to arrest Buric, but the suited man intervenes, introducing himself as “Ian Croft, regional head of CorIntech,” a company owned by Sear and Core. The nationalists both have their guns pointed at Borlú and Ashil. Buric says he doesn’t care about Breach; he boasts that he has spent years getting business from Besźel and stealing from Ul Qoma. He accuses Breach of protecting Ul Qoma. He continues that the unificationists are right to assert that there is only one city, but adds, “that city is called Besźel.”
Again, the portrayal of Buric here is a rather stark comment on the nature of politicians. Buric is clearly unprincipled, self-interested, and obsessed with power. Indeed, he even has the crudeness to boast about being above the law. In this sense, Buric is something of an archetype of a corrupt politician.
Themes
Borlú realizes aloud that Buric leaked the footage of the van in order to stop Breach from taking over the case of Mahalia’s murder. The nationalists still have their guns raised, but Borlú doesn’t think they’ll shoot. He announces that he is not there representing Breach, but rather the Besźel policzai, and reminds Buric that he has broken Besź law. He adds that he doesn’t care about smuggling or Ul Qoma, but he does care about people being murdered. He arrests Buric on the charge of conspiracy to murder Yolanda. The nationalists look confused, but Buric raises his gun at Borlú. There is the sudden sound of a gunshot; Ashil has shot Buric, who now falls, bleeding from the chest.
Here Borlú rebels against his status as a prisoner of Breach and realigns himself with the policzai. Significantly, this is not because he has allegiance to Besźel, but rather because his loyalty is to his job, which is to prosecute murder. In contrast to the confusion of Breach, the violent fanaticism of the nationalists, the greed of Sear and Core, and the megalomania of Buric, Borlú is the only one acting on legitimate moral principles.
Themes
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The nationalists, meanwhile, fire at Ashil, and Borlú shouts that they are under arrest. He attends to Ashil, telling the nationalists to stay put, but they run. Ashil says he’s alright, and yells at Croft to stay where he is. However, Croft has already climbed into the helicopter. Ashil tries to declare the vehicle “grounded,” but Croft responds by calling Besźel, Ul Qoma, and Breach pathetic, and saying that they do not stand a chance against the powers of his own country. He closes the door, and the helicopter flies away. Speaking into his earpiece, Ashil calls for help, saying that he is wounded. Borlú and Ashil put the final pieces of the puzzle together, with Ashil speaking weakly due to his wound. As help arrives for Ashil, he hands his keys, phone, and gun to Borlú, who promises, “I’ll do it.”
The end of this scene is somewhat cartoonish in its use of tropes. The villain, representative of an evil corporation, declares that he is too powerful to be beaten and then flies off in a helicopter. Indeed, the straightforwardness of this villain might catch the reader by surprise. This is, after all, a novel that bends the rules of different genres and fuses them to make strange new results. It is therefore arguably surprising that the narrative seems to have such a cliched moment in its conclusion.
Themes
