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
Borlú and Corwi are at the address that was on Mr. Geary’s piece of paper, which is headquarters of the True Citizens. The members of the group are standing around outside, clearly trying to look intimidating. One is holding a baseball bat. Borlú speaks into his radio, requesting that backup be on standby. When Borlú approaches one of the men and tells them he wants to ask a few questions, the man replies that unless they have a search warrant, they will not be permitted entry. When Borlú mentions Geary, the men say they read about the case in the newspaper. They suggest that what happened to her was punishment for “certain behaviors.” They explain that she had a “reputation among patriots.”
Unlike the unificationists, who were standoffish because they were afraid, the nationalists are more aggressive. They seem to believe that Mahalia deserved to be murdered, which obviously puts them in a highly suspicious light.
Themes
Another man suggests that Mahalia was a unificationist or a spy. A black car arrives and a middle-aged man gets out. He introduces himself as Harkad Gosz, the True Citizens’ lawyer. Gosz says he’s guessing Borlú is there about Mahalia. He says that Mahalia was either “stupid” or seriously trying to undermine Besźel. Borlú replies that it’s ridiculous to imply that Mahalia’s interest in Orciny was somehow fake and that she was really working for Ul Qoma. Gosz steps closer to Borlú, listing all the ways in which Mahalia’s work was suspicious. Corwi comments that the nationalists truly are “batshit.” Gosz threatens to get Borlú fired. As a final act of intimidation, Borlú mentions Breach, then leaves.
Although the narrative has thus far been brimming with dissidents and criminals, the True Citizens are the first characters who are genuinely sinister. They have no qualms about implying that Mahalia deserved to be murdered, and in this scene, they threaten Borlú’s job. Of course, in a sense this puts them in a suspicious light regarding the case—yet at the same time, just because they are rude and violent doesn’t mean they murdered Mahalia.
Themes
Walking away from the headquarters, Borlú and Corwi wonder if Gosz was sent over by Syedr, a Besź nationalist politician who is part of the Oversight Committee. Corwi mentions that she thought they were supposed to be done with the case by now, and Borlú replies that they should still gather as much information as they can before Breach takes over.
Although the True Citizens are crude and thuggish, they are also clearly connected to people with serious wealth and authority—as their relations with Gosz and Syedr show.
Themes
