Red Harvest

“That was a lie. I had.”

After arriving in Personville, the Op is guarded about his true feelings. He tells no one his real name and shares nothing about his past. Even small snippets of information are cloaked in lies and misdirection, as the truth is a currency that is used for exploitation in such a corrupt environment. His willingness to immediately lie with everyone but the audience illustrates his familiarity with such dangerous places.

“I can tell you that any other damned numbskull notions you've got are way off the lode.”

Personville is a mining town. Even though the actual mines themselves are kept away from the narrative, the money and power that the mines bring to men like Elihu Willsson seep into everyday life in the city. This is further illustrated by how mining language seeps into the everyday parlance of Personville. The Op is “way off the lode” (15), Elihu says, using a mining term that is familiar to him but unfamiliar to an outsider like the Op.

“She's so thoroughly mercenary, so frankly greedy, that there's nothing disagreeable about it.”

Every character warns the Op that Dinah Brand is only interested in money. While many male characters are explicitly derogatory when speaking about women, they almost respect Dinah’s mercenary attitude because she has no pretenses about what she wants.