Shadows of Sherwood

“Before tonight, she had never been truly scared while visiting the 401 Compound or venturing the Castle District alone. But those men—the sheer number of them and the quiet threat they exuded—frightened her. The danger of being caught sneaking around seemed real now.”

This passage highlights the contrast between Robyn’s former safe and sheltered world and the bleak reality of today. Whilst Robyn’s adventurous jaunts were always fun and mischief, her run now is steeped in fear. The juxtaposition between past and present deepens the pathos of Robyn’s situation, foreshadowing that she will have to grow up overnight. Further, the injection of sudden terror in Robyn’s life establishes that the world she is living in is lapsing rapidly toward dystopia, or a nightmarish society with few personal freedoms.

“One little girl, one little white lie, would never be her downfall.”

Mallet’s confident musings foreshadow her hubris. She believes that Robyn is an insignificant threat and, therefore does not need to be caught or accounted for. Mallet’s underplaying of the danger Robyn represents will prove to be very costly for the sheriff. This represents the theme of The Role of Youth in Social Change. Her reflection is also an example of Magoon’s use of irony, since it will very obviously be proved wrong.