54 pages • 1-hour read
Twist
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Symbols & Motifs
Underwater Cables
The underwater cables that Conway repairs are a symbol of the internet’s importance to society’s connectivity. Anthony is surprised that the cables are smaller than he would have thought because of their importance and the sheer amount of information they contain. At any given moment, information flies through the cables at depths humans cannot reach: “[W]ho knows what it was that the cable was carrying at the time, all the love notes, all the algorithms […]the flotsam of our longings, the jetsam of truths, all of it, all, suspended in a series of wet tubes at the bottom of the ocean floor” (49). In these cables are the people connecting and pursuing their passions, but the connectivity enabled by the cables also inflicts harm. Every aspect of human life is represented in these cables, demonstrating how the instantaneous transfer of information defines the world.
Anthony also associates these cables with imagery of life, comparing the inside of one of the cables to that of the inside of a tree: “I studied the inside of a slice of cable. I had somehow though the wires would twist around one another. They lay, instead, in perfect, neat concentric rings. Like the inner workings of a tree” (77). The organization of the wires inside the cable reminds him of the natural order of a tree with its many rings, detailing its history as it grows. Though the cable does not grow like a tree over time, its organization demonstrates the care put into making it. The cables come to life, acting as veins, delivering information around the world. Anthony creates this connection between the cables and veins, therefore suggesting that when one breaks, the health of society is at stake, as though blood flow is cut off.
Conway’s Backpacks
When Conway severs two cables in Egypt, he captures the world’s attention. When the world then finds identical backpacks to those Conway used in his attack, their anxiety worsens. Conway’s use of these backpacks, though they pose no real threat, creates a motif that highlights The Fragility of Technological Dependency. Though the backpacks pose no real threat to the cables, they remind the world of what is at stake if they did: “It didn’t matter that there was no actual bomb. It was a clear indicator that the saboteur had, at the very least, contemplated blowing the cable. The shock, of course, triggered a series of investigations near all the landing stations around the world” (217).
With these backpacks, Conway reminds people that the cables that keep them connected can be compromised, and that the repercussions can be severe. In many ways, these backpacks filled with sand are a more effective statement than the backpacks that severed the cables in Egypt. They force people to acknowledge how easily their connection can be severed and hint at a desire, at least by some, to disconnect the world from its dependency and work on Repairing Personal Connection. The fear that arises demonstrates how essential people view the internet to not only society but also to their daily lives. The response to the discovery of the first backpack shows how serious any threat to the cables is viewed, with swift action taken to ensure that the cables are safe.
The Georges Lecointe’s Flag
Anthony travels with Conway aboard the Georges Lecointe. The ship shares a name with a Belgian naval officer and scientist, and its purpose is to repair the underwater cables that keep the world connected. The ship belongs to a cable company from Belgium but operates in African waters. When Anthony finally leaves the ship in Accra, he sees the flag it flies for the first time and wonders at the disconnect between the flag and the powers behind the ship: “It was only when the Georges left Accra that I realized the flag she flew was from Mauritius. It was a four-banded flag: red blue yellow green. I wondered what that tiny piece of in the Indian Ocean meant apart from a gesture of convenience, or a way to hide” (154). Mauritius, an island nation off the coast of Madagascar that was first colonized by France and then the British, seemingly has no connection to the ship’s Belgian connections. The flag, therefore, becomes a motif that reflects The Legacy of European Colonialism: Anthony suspects that the ship flies Mauritius’s flag as a way to more conveniently move through African waters and hide its Belgian identity. By masquerading as a ship from Mauritius, the Georges Lecointe can better serve the purposes of its European bosses, perpetuating the European exploitation of Africa.
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