riddhe's biplane | Tikva's Glider |
As discussed earlier in books 1-2, the use of innocent and childlike elements in a story centered around war created an enhanced depiction of its horrors through the use of irony. This common theme continues, but is also furthered in the more direct expression of Riddhe Marcenas’ toy biplane. In the second novel, Riddhe had accidentally brought this biplane with him into battle of Industrial 7. When his NCO discovers the toy in his ReZel’s cockpit, the old timer soldier experiences an emotional break down and lashes out at Riddhe, blaming the tragic loss of the battle upon him bringing such a toy into battle. He believes that it is because he brought something so childishly innocent onto a battlefield that his comrades were killed. When the biplane was thrown across the zero gravity hangar by the furious NCO, it coincidentally landed in the hands of Banagher Links. Considering the biplane was a symbol of Riddhe’s attachment to his childlike innocence and denial of responsibility as a soldier, the fact that this item landed in Banagher’s hands potentially signifies the innocence that still remains with Banagher, relating to his desire to stay moral in the face of war, unlike Riddhe who eventually succumbs to the atrocities he must commit. | As they pass this glider back and forth between one another, they once again find themselves discussing the war. Banagher tells him of his wish to see the end of the war, for neither side wants to suffer the consequences and loss that comes from it. Tikva takes this as if he is asking him to surrender, but Banagher reassures him by saying, “What I meant to say is I want to see if both sides can back off a little and talk”. He continues to contemplate the plausibility of ending the war that caused innocent children like Tikva to wish to fight, finds this desire unrealistic, and accidentally loses the glider by throwing it over Tikva’s head. Banagher’s act of losing hold of a symbol of childhood bliss as a result of facing realism symbolizes his current internal conflict between his morality and innocence, and his experiences in the face of war and the dark side of human nature. When Banagher recovers the gilder from the nearby alley it landed in, a Federation spy gives him instruction on escaping Palau with the Unicorn during Operation Billiard, a hostage rescue mission directed towards the recovery of the two. He tells Banagher Palau will soon become a battlefield just like Industrial 7 and drops the glider as his ears begin to interpret the sound of the quarries as machine gun fire. Banagher realizes that the innocence and peace of all of Palau’s inhabitants will be shaken just as his life was thrown into war at The Battle of Industrial 7. |
In a strikingly similar way as Riddhe’s biplane discussed above, the glider that Banagher and Tikva throw to each other represents the pure innocence of Tikva, and the wavering innocence of Banagher.