Gender

From leering men to physical confrontations, Makina’s journey demonstrates that in the world of the novel, being female is more of a liability than an advantage. Makina’s gender colors every interaction from the first to the last chapter. In the first chapter, Makina encounters the guards, with whom she must be extraordinarily cautious because they have made romantic passes at her in the past. The first guard Makina “shucked” (12)—a word that captures her casual, offhand approach to sexual relations—though it is implied that the man could not perform; Makina must be careful with this guard, therefore, because his ego is fragile. Makina is especially careful around the second guard because she once rejected him and because it is well-known that he once “offed a woman…left her by the side of the road in an oil drum on orders from Mr. Aitch...