Survival of the fittest sounds all neat and clean from a distance. Creatures grow and change in a nice line, just like on that little evolutionary chart. The strong survive and the weak... don't. However, it's pretty bloody business when you take a closer look. Municipal Darwinism, the dominant social system in Mortal Engines, is no different. Not only do vicious towns clatter around the landscape and tear smaller towns apart with great metal jaws, but the people fight each other, too, with guns, swords, and missiles. With great shows of strength, there's bound to be blood spilled. In Mortal Engines, heads will roll.
Questions About Violence
- Why does Tom use violence to solve his problems? What are the consequences?
- Hester has no problem using extreme violence to solve her problems. Why don't these methods bother her?
- Why doesn't Katherine decide to use violence to solve her problems? Is it because of her upper-class upbringing, or is it because of something else?
- Tom and Hester are often pursued by people who want to kill them. Are there any non-violent solutions that would save them, or is violence the only answer to violence?