The Lies of Locke Lamora

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 3

Part 1, Interlude 3-Part 2, Chapter 5

Part 2, Interludes 5-8

Part 3, Chapter 9-Part 3, Interlude 11

Part 4, Chapter 12-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Humor and Violence

From beginning to end, The Lies of Locke Lamora is filled with humor and violence, often at the same time. Humor is a way of coping with violence, and a way of growing accustomed to it. Laughing at something frightening or painful can make it less so. Most of the people in Camorr’s underworld have this humor, which makes sense, since they’re the ones who see the most violence. When life is full of violence, pain, and death, Camorri believe in making the most of it—and enjoying it however you can. Capa Raza, however, lacks this humor. He takes pride in his vengeance and in his cruelty, but he takes it deathly seriously. There is no room for laughter or joy in his life. This absence of good humor marks him as an outlier and as truly evil.

Elderglass/The Eldren

Elderglass structures are a prominent part of Camorr. The city is built around them, an hour of the day is dedicated to the light they cast, and their mystery is omnipresent. Elderglass and the Eldren are unknowable and impenetrable; Elderglass is unbreakable, and the Eldren left no information about themselves behind. Even so, Camorri must live with those secrets and the strangeness of an unknowable past. Sometimes, such as in the Bastards’ cellar, Elderglass becomes almost familiar. Other times, Elderglass is eerie, alien, and foreign. These mercurial structures symbolize secrets and the unknowable truth behind things and people. Much about Locke and those around him remains a mystery, and the information Locke does know is often false. Elderglass, both eerie and strange, reflects this unknowability and the complications it causes in life.

Sharks

Sharks are a beloved and feared animal in Camorr. They symbolize violence, danger, and death. Sharks are even sacred to Aza Guilla, the goddess of death. Crucially, however, sharks aren’t evil. They’re animals, and their behavior is informed by what they are. Sharks get angry when provoked, as they are before gladiatorial bouts, but they don’t automatically pursue people. When the shark in the Floating Grave’s pool leaps up and bites Capa Barsavi, everyone present recognizes that the shark has acted in a bizarre, unnatural way. Sharks thus symbolize how violence operates in Camorr: It is a fact of life, and it isn’t morally wrong per se; the citizens simply must learn how to live and interact with it.