Content Warning: This section references existential dread, disaster and its aftermath, and emotional and psychological distress.

“Mitchell dreamed of an erupting super volcano that would bury North America under a foot of hot ash. He envisioned a nuclear exchange with China; a modern black plague; an asteroid tearing apart the crust of the earth, unleashing a new dark age. Such singularities didn’t frighten him, he claimed; they offered freedom.”

The initial characterization of Mitchell comes from an unnamed schoolmate. This distanced perspective on Mitchell, combined with the word choice (e.g., “dreamed”), makes him seem prophet-like. Later in the novel, however, it emerges that fear fuels Mitchell’s study of catastrophic events.

“‘Can you imagine?’ he said. One of his hands began to absently pull at his hair. ‘She’s a walking worst case scenario. How does she get out of bed?’”

A young Mitchell grapples with the unpredictability of Elsa Bruner’s life. Elsa’s heart condition means she could die at any moment, which fascinates and obsesses Mitchell throughout the book. Elsa symbolizes a lack of control, so Mitchell’s preoccupation with her suggests his obsession with catastrophe. In attempting to understand her attitude and actions, he seeks to analyze and overcome his own fears.

“The loss of life, though regrettable, they could overcome. It was the loss of capital that brought the chief executives to their knees.”

This quote refers to business professionals’ mentality regarding the Seattle earthquake disaster, which is the inciting incident that sets Mitchell’s story into motion. Throughout the novel, Mitchell struggles to understand business-minded people’s cool, logical approach to catastrophes, as his own perspective on disasters is fueled by emotion and fear.