Mortal Engines

Among the many secondary points of view in the book is Hester’s. In appearance, her face has a huge scar that makes her appear “like a portrait that had been furiously crossed out” (31), and this scar influences who she is and symbolizes her motives. Valentine gave Hester the scar the night he murdered her parents, and from that night forward, the scar represents Hester’s fixation on revenge. Hester thinks she’s ugly and that she must hide her face from everyone. Tom is the first person she really lets see her, and the time she spends with him allows her to open up and let her guard down. By the end of the book, Hester is comfortable with Tom and appreciates that he sees past her face. After Katherine’s sacrifice and death, Hester no longer lets her old scars—physical or emotional—rule her life. Her facial scar becomes a mark of what she has learned rather than what she has endured.

One of the main antagonists of Mortal Engines, Thaddeus Valentine is a handsome man “with a mane of silver-flecked black hair and a trim black beard” (19). His distinguished appearance hides his scavenger past and the lies he tells both himself and others. Valentine is completely motivated by self-preservation and status. His desire to provide himself and Katherine with a better life led him to do terrible, questionable things, including the murder of Hester’s family and the retrieval of MEDUSA (despite knowing the destruction it could cause). Valentine represents the idea that traditional good looks don’t equate to goodness or trustworthiness. Valentine appears to be someone who’s worked hard and who has the needs of others in mind, but in reality he has clung to others for everything he has and only pretended to be brave and thoughtful to bury his own fears.

Katherine is Valentine’s daughter and shares the role of the novel’s protagonist with Tom. At the beginning of the story, Tom notices that she has “her father's gray eyes and the same quick, dazzling smile” (21). This sets her up to be similar to her father, but as the book progresses, it reveals that she’s little like him. By the end, she has departed from everything her father holds dear, showing how parental actions affect how children view their parents and the world. Katherine’s character arc illustrates the problem of ignorant privilege. Until she visits London’s Gut, she doesn’t know about the terrible things that go on in her city. Had she never stepped outside her comfort zone, she likely would never have changed and would instead have continued her father’s legacy, doing Crome’s bidding and helping London along its destructive path. Her change in attitude represents how we can all choose to view the world. Just because privilege is handed to a person doesn’t mean that person can’t help those who don’t benefit from such privilege. Privilege itself isn’t bad; accepting it without question—and assuming that all others live with such privilege—is the problem.

The Lord Mayor of London, Magnus Crome is “as thin as an old crow, and twice as gloomy” (46). Crome is the novel’s main antagonist and symbolizes the greed and lust for power that led the world to its dystopian state. Crome isn’t responsible for past destruction, but he embodies what happens when we refuse to learn from past mistakes. People who seek power at the expense of all else are the story’s true villains, and Crome is just part of this group. He represents the major theme Losing What We Love Most Due to the Quest for Power. He sees nothing but the glorious future he can secure for London by using MEDUSA and doesn’t care about all the people and places he’ll destroy to meet his goal.

The pilot of the Jenny Haniver, Fang is a “lean, handsome woman with badgery slashes of white in her short black hair” (84). Fang is a member of the Anti-Traction League and considers traction cities the downfall of both society and the world. She represents the lessons Tom must learn and the experiences he must have before he can change, as well as how vast experience is the best teacher. Fang’s death is the final motivation Tom needs to uncover the lies he has been telling himself about London and Valentine. Fang helped Tom see the beauty and sustainability of static life, and watching Valentine destroy both her and a peaceful static community shows Tom what will happen if he doesn’t stop London.

The last remaining Stalker from the Sixty Minute War, Grike has “a horrible voice, sharp as the squeal of rusty cogs” (67). Grike’s appearance is made for fear and functionality. During the war, Stalkers were super warriors made by using technology to resurrect dead soldiers. Grike is the one point of goodness from Hester’s past and the reason she can change throughout the story. He cared for her when no one else did, which let Hester retain emotions other than anger and sorrow. Grike’s death is Hester’s catalyst to overcome her negative emotions. She doesn’t truly do so until Katherine’s sacrifice, but losing Grike makes Hester’s wounds fresh, so she can understand and empathize with Valentine’s loss later.

Bevis is the apprentice Engineer who witnesses part of the events from the night Hester attacks Valentine. Bevis represents the tyranny held over London’s lower tiers. As a Gut worker, Bevis is the lowest of the low, and his status as part of the Engineering Guild earns him no favors because he’s only an apprentice. Those in power take care of their own while leaving the rest to fend for themselves. Bevis’s death may be what inspires Katherine to sacrifice herself. Katherine loved Bevis, and without knowing how the 13th Floor Elevator crashed, she assumes that her father had something to do with Bevis’s death. When she sees her father try to kill Hester, Katherine is unwilling to let her father hurt anyone else.

The Deputy Director of the Guild of Historians, Pomeroy is Valentine’s second-in-command. Pomeroy represents the older side of the guild and the commitment to preserving the past. His decision to help Katherine in the final pages shows that age doesn’t imply being out-of-touch. Pomeroy sees the violence promoted by the Guild of Engineers, and he’s willing to step out of his comfort zone to stop them.