Denver

Denver, the capital of Colorado, is a major city in the Rocky Mountain States where the Axis victory has left a complex legacy of economic revival, cultural tension, and personal danger. It serves as a site of shopping and leisure for Juliana Frink and Joe Cinnadella, a stage for the fatal climax of their relationship, and a symbolic contrast to the Nazi-dominated East Coast, embodying the region's relative but uneasy freedom.

Geography and Political Context

Denver is located in the Rocky Mountain States, a region that, according to Juliana Frink's reflections, is seen by East Americans as "the sticks" where "nothing has happened since before the war." The city is described as "nicer" than the smaller towns of the region, and it is noted that it is getting one of the heat-resistant runways so that Lufthansa rockets can land there, indicating its growing importance. The city's position in the Rocky Mountain States places it under Japanese influence, but it is also a place where the German Reich's power is felt, as evidenced by the presence of Nazi rocket ships flying overhead and the availability of banned books like The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.

Economic and Cultural Life

Denver is portrayed as a city of chic, modern stores with numbingly expensive clothes, where Juliana and Joe engage in a shopping spree. They buy a light blue Italian original dress for almost two hundred dollars, along with shoes, nylon stockings, hats, a handmade black leather purse, and a synthetic fiber coat from Germany. The city also has a barbershop where Joe gets his hair cut and dyed blond, and a men's clothing store where they buy a tailored suit of Dacron, new socks, underwear, sharp-toed shoes, white shirts with French cuffs, ties made in France, and silver cuff links. The shopping spree is a key part of Joe's plan to make a good impression on Hawthorne Abendsen, and it highlights the economic disparities and the availability of luxury goods in the city.

The President Garner Hotel and the Fatal Slashing

The President Garner Hotel in Denver is the site of the fatal confrontation between Juliana and Joe. After their shopping spree, they check into the hotel, where Joe reveals his true purpose: to use Juliana as a lure to kill Hawthorne Abendsen. The hotel room becomes a scene of psychological and physical struggle, culminating in Juliana slashing Joe's throat with a razor blade. The hotel's valet service and the presence of razor blades supplied as a convenience to guests are key details in the event. The body is found by a hotel employee, Theodore Ferris, who had picked up shirts from Joe just half an hour earlier. The police report describes the scene as showing signs of a violent argument, and the incident is reported in the Denver newspapers as "VACATION ENDS IN FATAL SLASHING."

Narrative Significance

Denver functions as a crucial turning point in Juliana's arc. It is the place where she transitions from a passive participant in Joe's scheme to an active agent who stops an assassination. The city's modern, consumerist surface contrasts sharply with the violence that erupts within it, underscoring the novel's theme of the thin veneer of civilization over brutality. The city also represents a space of relative freedom compared to the Nazi-controlled East Coast, but it is not immune to the reach of the Reich's agents, as Joe's mission demonstrates. The Denver newspaper's report of the slashing, which misidentifies Juliana as "Mrs. Cinnadella," allows her to escape and continue her journey to Cheyenne, making the city a site of both crisis and liberation.