Header image: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/06/08/npr-the-alice-network-is-a-crackling-tale-of-spies-and-suspense
In the second third of the Alice Network, a lot of critical development has been unveiled.
For starters, let’s look at the progression of the main characters.
In the case of Eve, I believe she has become more amicable towards Charlie (while the signs may be subtle). For instance, Eve says to Charlie, “Yes, and I’ll c-cover this one. You’ve been buying till now.” While covering the cost for food may seem like an insignificant gesture to us, for Eve, this is a big step forward. Earlier on in the novel, Eve was simply using Charlie’s wealth in order to track down Renée Bordelon (She also demanded that Claire does not get in her way and asked for a sum of money to allow Claire to come with her). In other word’s, Charlie was just a piece to be used to achieve Eve’s goal. However, later on, Eve is making an effort (in small ways) to help Charlie and not just use her.
Another example of friendship being created between Charlie and Eve is after Eve learns about the death of Rose from Charlie. Instead of rubbing it in Claire’s face that she was right about the fact that Rose would not be alive, she decides to comfort Claire. “I’m sorry, […] For what it’s worth. Which is nothing, when a friend’s g-gone. Sorry isn’t worth anything, but I still am.” Up until now, Eve showing empathy for Claire would have been considered completely out of character.
In this third of the book, we also see Finn’s and Charlie’s relationship become something more than just acquaintances. After learning about Rose’s death, Finn shares personal information that he has never shared before (his experience in the war). After the exchange of personal stories, the two become lovers.
In addition to character development, the main focus of the plot has changed. As mentioned earlier, Claire learns that Rose died. Rose was killed by the Germans in a small French town called Oradour-sur-Glane. There, she was shot down in a mass shooting along with her infant child. After Claire learns about this loss, she no longer holds an interest in continuing the adventure with Eve and Finn. However, Eve makes an attempt to rekindle this interest by saying “Let me know if you decide you’re a fleur du mal after all, and I’ll tell you why you should come with me to find René Bordelon.” The second third of the book ends here.
A symbol that pops in this third of the novel is Eve’s medals of war. These medals are only given to the bravest and most accomplished soldiers, and Eve was one of those people. However, Eve decides not to accept these medals. This might be because these medals might symbolize how Eve had to sacrifice her best friend and coworker, Lili, and let her be captured by the Germans. Eve did this in order to relay important information to the British Empire which is what got her these medals. The medals would be a constant reminder of the sacrifice she made rather than symbolizing her accomplishments.
One of the medals that Eve received was the Order of the British Empire
This story continues to intrigue me, and I am curious as to what direction the plot of this novel will go, but that will be for another time.
Analysis Paralysis 
I love how you did not only focus on one topic, but instead you focused on a wide array of topics including symbols, friendships, and relationships. My favourite part is the portion where you spoke about Eve’s medals, It seems more like a symbol of guilt to me, as anytime she looks at it, as you said, she is reminded by the sacrifices she had to make. Since this is a blog, I’d like to see more personal opinion and personality in this blog.
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As I read your blog, I liked how you brought in summaries of the novel without being too detailed. As someone who doesn’t have background knowledge on your book, it became easier for me to understand your explanations. Also, it is concise in the sense that you touched on several important things such as character/plot development, and symbols (etc), but it wasn’t wordy. You have an effective use of images, as they are all relevant and make sense. I especially like the ending part where you linked the significance of the medals and the picture of them to help the reader understand the real life connection.
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I really enjoyed how you added a lot of pictures into your blog post, it makes it more approchable for the reader to read the text (something I need to workon). I also really liked your analyisis of the characters but it would be very intersesting to see your opnion of their developments. For example when you wrote about the charcters reactions to Roses death you could have talked about how you felt. Where you suprised? Did you expect it? etc.
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