Metropolis · Chapter
XVII explained
Maria, trapped in the subterranean city, discovers water rising silently from the river that Joh Fredersen had walled up.
What happens
Maria, trapped in the subterranean city, discovers water rising silently from the river that Joh Fredersen had walled up. She races against the flood to save children, leading them through dark streets and up a winding staircase, only to find the exit door blocked by wrecked machinery. Exhausted and bleeding, she resigns herself and comforts the children, waiting for rescue.
Themes in this chapter
Class Division and Exploitation
The subterranean workers' city, built by Joh Fredersen, is vulnerable to flooding, highlighting the exploitation and peril faced by the lower class.
Love and Sacrifice
Maria's race to save the children is driven by love for the man she loves and selfless sacrifice, as she risks her life without thought of reward.
Religious and Mythological Symbolism
The flood and Maria's role evoke Noah's Ark and saintly martyrdom, with the water personified as a vengeful force and the children as souls awaiting deliverance.
Characters to notice
- Maria
Maria heroically leads children to safety as water floods the subterranean city, but finds the exit blocked.
- Joh Fredersen
Mentioned as the one who walled up the river's course when building the subterranean city.
Key passages
“Old books tell of saintly women, whose smile at the moment of preparing themselves to gain the martyr's crown, was of such sweetness that the torturers fell at their feet and hardened heathens praised the name of God. But Maria's smile was, perhaps, of a still sweeter kind. For, when setting about her race with the silent water, she thought, not of the crown of eternal bliss, but only of death and of the man she loved.”
Maria's selflessness surpasses that of martyrs; she races the flood not for heavenly reward but out of love for a man and acceptance of death.
Highlights Maria's sacrificial love and contrasts her motivation with traditional religious martyrdom.
“The water quoth: 'Do you know, beautiful Maria, that I am fleeter than the fleetest foot? I am stroking your sweet ankles. I shall soon clutch at your knees.'”
The rising water taunts Maria, personified as a seductive and relentless pursuer.
Personification of the flood as a malevolent, seductive force adds to the chapter's tension and symbolic depth.
“She raised her face to the ray of light which fell upon her. The words of a little, childish prayer, now no longer intelligible, ran through her head. She dropped her head and sat down on the stairs.”
Exhausted and defeated, Maria turns to a forgotten childhood prayer as she accepts the blocked exit.
Shows Maria's despair and resignation, emphasizing the hopelessness of the situation.