Good versus Evil

The battle of good versus evil becomes defined and more evident throughout the novel. Madame Koto, originally just a greedy bar owner, slowly loses any sense of right and wrong as she puts her profits first. At one pivotal point, she allows her regular (local and poor) bar patrons to be displaced by her new clientele, consisting of thugs from the party of the rich. For this, she is rewarded with more business, money and political favors, including electricity. This gives her incentive to endear herself to her newfound "friends" even more.

Azaro's father starts the story as a simple workman, who gets pulled into conflict with both the spirit world, through Azaro and local political thugs. The father has a "live and let live" attitude at first, but he realizes at one point that he has to take a side. He quickly becomes the subject...