Coming of Age
The overarching theme that unifies all the multiple minor themes is the process of maturation from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. The young first-person narrator tells a story that begins with him in a state of innocence even though he has already lost one parent to death. The story really commences with the loss of his father through a kidnapping. This event instigates a “hero’s journey” in which the young boy must face conflict, overcome his fears, and understand more about the mysteries of his father. Like many such adventures, he is accompanied by a particularly unusual Obi-Wan Kenobi-type older and more experienced guide who facilitates his journey through maturation.
Science and the Supernatural
The two most important figures in the young narrator’s life are his father and a supernatural entity most easily described as a ghost. Mittenwool, the spectral mentor, rejects that description. The important thing is that he is definitely not a living creature and only the protagonist can see him though, at a very essential moment, it is revealed that Mittenwood can make his presence known to others. The young boy’s father has mastered the science of the new technology known as photography. He has expanded the use of photographic imagery by mastering a new type of image he labels “irontypes” which historically came to be known as “tintypes.” The “hero’s journey” of the boy situates him squarely between science and the supernatural without forcing a binary choice. Instead, he adopts both science and the supernatural in his quest to rescue his father.
The Ethics of Counterfeiting
The narrator’s father is kidnapped because his photographic reproduction skill is desired for its application to create counterfeit money. The ethical argument presented as justification is that disseminating counterfeit currency creates an equitable distribution of wealth if it goes undetected. The moral dimension of such criminal behavior becomes problematic when the boy discovers that his father was at one time a criminal himself before deciding to leave that past behind and go straight. At issue is the question of whether counterfeiting is actually a victimless crime since nobody is actually hurt by it. Even more to the point is whether it can be considered a crime since legal tender is only a transactional symbol of actual value that possesses no more inherent worth than its counterfeited counterpart. This question is related to both the photographic reproduction of reality and the status of Mittenwool as the lingering spectral presence of a boy long dead.
