Watch set to Istanbul time

The man whose watch is set to Istanbul time despite his having been exiled eight years prior is a symbol of the ways in which people become attached to their pasts. C.M. meets him in the early stages of the novel before she has begun researching X's life, and she recognizes herself in the man's eyes and in his refusal to set the watch to U.S. time. In essence, he serves as a tool for Lacey to indicate that C.M. is trapped by her past.

Emma Goldman

The activist Emma Goldman is a symbol of feminist resistance to male rule in both the Northern Territory and the Southern Territory. She is heralded as a hero and a martyr in the North, while in the South she is vilified; X, though, regards her as a personal hero even as a...