Death and betrayal are common themes in the novel - Jane and Griffin's son Will is estranged from both parents; Milos's baby dies due to his inaction and his wife's insistence to keep the baby out of the reach of doctors for religious reasons; Jonathon's 21-year-old son is killed by revolutionaries in Peru. These events spark the characters to re-think their current choices. Jonathon's sad news is brought by his former wife which makes him to realize the wrong-doings of his own marriage and hence affair with Griffin, leading him to release Griffin and send him back to his own family.