The Toll

Goddard’s crystal chalet is a symbol of excess, ambition, and depravity in the text, speaking to The Relationship Between Power and Corruption. It also symbolizes the distance Goddard has traveled from the Scythe commandments, one of which is “[t]hou shalt claim no Earthly possessions, save thy robes, ring, and journal” (Scythe). The fact that the chalet is crystalline makes it analogous to a scythe diamond; thus, Goddard wants to live inside a scythe diamond or possess all the power the diamond represents. This imagery is further reinforced when Goddard spreads scythe diamonds on his bed and literally lies amongst them, even though they are uncomfortable. Since the chalet is located on top of a skyscraper, it represents the height of Goddard’s ego. The High Blade feels he inhabits the stratosphere while others are confined to the ground.

As the Tonists continue to speak against him, Goddard mounts heavy artillery on the 68th-floor garden surrounding his chalet, with the barrels of the cannons pointed at the city below. This shows Goddard has turned against the very people whom, as a scythe, he was supposed to serve.