Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Night Watchman, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Solidarity, and Community Action
Oppression and Supposed Good Intentions
Humor and Pain
Sex, Violence, and Gender
Agency and Exploitation
Summary
Analysis
As she enters the train station, someone bumps into Millie. She strongly dislikes being jostled by strangers. She only has one onionskin copy of the report, and the precarity of that one copy makes her nervous. When she meets with Thomas and Louis, she’s comforted by the seriousness with which Thomas treats the study. The two of them decide to twine a rope through the handle of the suitcase and tie each end to their wrists.
Thomas again shows not just how seriously he takes his role in opposing the Termination Bill, but how he is able to effectively find others to help in that effort by taking what they do seriously, respecting their agency, and treating them as full human beings (in contrast to figures like Arthur Watkins or Mr. Vold).
Themes
