As with most of Alexander Key's stories, the embattled protagonists find that most of the people they meet are untrustworthy, greedy, and hateful, which makes the decency of the few all the more poignant. O'Day puts himself in danger in order to help Tony and Tia, but he does so willingly because their battle presents O'Day with an opportunity to fight the agents of evil, which is what he knows is his purpose in life and will deliver meaning to his life.