Among the Betrayed

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of physical abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, and death. 

“Everything hurt. But it had felt like a nightmare, being arrested, Nina told herself stubbornly. She savored the dreamy quality of her memories, as if her arrest had been something good—not the worst moment of her life.”

In the opening chapter, Nina finds herself in a dark cell, and she consoles herself by saying that her arrest felt like a “nightmare” and might therefore not be reality. This shows Nina’s early tendency to deny her painful reality though she grows in courage over the novel.

“Nina screamed. The sound echoed in her tiny concrete cell, one long wordless howl of rage and pain.”

The “wordless howl” vividly illustrates Nina’s despair after learning about Jason’s betrayal. It is a metaphor for Nina’s loss of control and voice. The image of the scream, which “echoed in her tiny concrete cell,” highlights her entrapment.

“They’d met Jason and his friends. And Jason had told them a wonderful story about a girl not any older than them, Jen Talbot, who’d led a rally demanding rights for third children like them. Jen had been brave enough to tell the Government that third children shouldn’t have to hide. Jen had died for her beliefs, but still, listening to Jason’s wonderfully deep voice praise Jen, Nina had wanted to be just like her.”

The quotation contextualizes Nina’s past, connecting her character to the series’ previous novels. Nina’s view of Jen Talbot as an inspirational figure indicates her early desire for empowerment and the courage to battle an authoritarian government. However, this desire blurs with her interest in Jason, signifying that Nina needs to grow up and separate her idealism from her personal desires.