57 pages • 1 hour read
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
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Symbols & Motifs
General Leyers’ Valise
Leyers’ valise is a source of mystery and intrigue from the moment Pino meets the general. The valise is always with Leyers as he’s working in the back seat of the car, pulling out important documents. As a spy, the general’s valise is of value to Pino. Pino believes the valise contains many important documents that he can share with the Allies, and later, Pino suspects the general of using the valise to transport gold to Switzerland. However, for most of the book, Pino doesn’t get the chance to look inside of the valise, despite it being so close to him at all times. Pino even goes so far as to make a copy of the general’s key to unlock the valise. He has several opportune moments to use this key to search the valise, and yet becomes sidetracked every time. Finally, when Pino opens the valise in front of Aunt Greta and Uncle Albert, the contents of the valise are a bit of an anti-climax. While there are some documents outlining enemy positions and a handwritten note from Leyers essentially saying that the war was lost, the valise doesn’t contain anything revelatory. In a way, the valise almost becomes a symbol for Leyers himself: an enigma. Pino’s desire to see what’s inside of the valise is nearly the same as his desire to comprehend the general. Both the valise and the general are reluctant to yield many secrets.
The Gray Men
Pino calls the Nazi slave army “the gray men.” He first encounters the gray men in Milan at the train station before he leaves for Casa Alpina. At the time, Pino doesn’t really know who they are or understand what they’re doing in Milan. He’s only vaguely aware that they must be prisoners of some sort since German soldiers are guarding them. As the war progresses, Pino sees the gray men more frequently and in larger numbers. When he speaks to one of the prisoners at the ammunition dump in the tunnel, Antonio tells him that not all of them are Jewish. Many of them are prisoners of war taken from their countries as the Nazi war machine marches on. Antonio tells Pino that the reason the Nazis can build things so quickly is because of their army of slaves. He then draws parallels to the slaves in Egypt and calls Leyers a slave master. While Pino calls the men “the gray men” because of the color of their uniforms, the men are also graying because they are having the life worked out of them. Pino sees the gray men in greater frequency and numbers as the desperation and hopelessness of war grows.
Platform 21
Pino first learns about Platform 21 from Mrs. Napolitano. She tells Pino that her husband was taken to Platform 21, a place where Jews are taken and never seen or heard from again. Platform 21 is where Pino sees the faded boxcars filled with crying and screaming people begging for help. Pino doesn’t fully understand the gravity of seeing those boxcars leave the train station, though the image of a child’s small, waving fingers through the slats of the boxcar haunts him. Platform 21, like the Nazi labor camps, is something of an open secret. Platform 21 is out in the open for all to see. The boxcars full of people aren’t hidden, and those who know where they are headed either attempt to mitigate the situation or are willfully ignorant about it. In many ways, Platform 21 is a symbol for a truth that is open for all to see, but few are willing to look at directly.
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