“There was something not quite right. Something about this moment felt fake, but also frighteningly real. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was definitely there. Something low and persistent, like the drone of the Hindenburg underneath all the cheering.”

During the Opening Ceremonies, Evie feels a sense of unease, and her instincts hint at The Hidden Realities of Corrupt Regimes. The author uses a simile comparing her feeling to the “drone of the Hindenburg,” employing auditory imagery to create a sense of underlying menace beneath the “cheering.” By contrasting the grandiose show of the Olympics with a “frighteningly real” undercurrent, the author foreshadows the sinister nature of the Nazi regime that the games are designed to conceal.

“A black cloud of rock and dirt and dust swept through the house, and day turned to night in the blink of an eye. I cried out, but I couldn’t hear my own voice, couldn’t see my own hands in front of my face.”

This flashback to the “Black Sunday” dust storm establishes the personal trauma that motivates Evie’s ambition to win the gold medal and improve her family’s financial situation. As Evie recounts the details of the dust storm, the intense sensory imagery conveys her sense of complete powerlessness and explains why she believes that winning at the Olympics is her only chance to regain control over her family’s fate. Evie’s voicelessness in the storm also links to her feelings of helplessness in Berlin as she learns more about the desperation of marginalized communities.