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Chapter 72
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Vox, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Action, Complacency, and Resistance
Language, Communication, and Power
Children, Indoctrination, and Acclimatization
Control, Religion, and Gender Essentialism
Choice and Personal Fulfillment
Summary
Analysis
Morgan holds the needle to Lorenzo’s neck and insults Jean as she walks in. Jackie appears behind Jean with Petroski’s keys. Jean tells Morgan to be sensible: people will ask questions if an esteemed Italian scientist can mysteriously no longer speak intelligibly. If Petroski shoots Lorenzo, Morgan can claim self-defense or an accident. Morgan finally shouts for Petroski. When Petroski enters the room, Morgan tells him to shoot Lorenzo. Jean asks if the safety is off—and Jackie leaps onto Petroski. Jean grabs the gun and shoots Morgan.
Morgan’s fault, and what causes his eventual demise, is that he consistently underestimates his female colleagues. Because he sees Jean as weak due to her being a woman, it never occurs to him that she might actually be able to do something to hurt or kill him (especially since she was unsuccessful at injecting the serum into his brain already).
Themes
