While Justice Sleeps

The theme of corruption central to While Justice Sleeps is complemented by the book’s argument regarding the dangerous nature of power games, especially political games. Multiple characters in the book exhibit a power-hungry nature, including Indira, Nigel, and—most significantly—President Stokes. Their desire for power results in a self-serving attitude that leads them down morally corrupt paths. Many of these characters also take part in complex “games” of strategy to help protect their power. One example is President Stokes’s strategy to pack the Supreme Court with a justice of his choosing (once Justice Wynn is out of the way). And it’s worth noting that the consequences of power games failing are explored as well; they do not inspire true loyalty. For example, when President Stokes betrays Major Vance, Vance in turn double-crosses him, almost immediately.

The book’s thematic treatment of games, particularly strategic games, is supported by the symbolic significance of chess throughout the narrative. Chess is a crucial game of strategy that requires not only knowing one’s own moves but also anticipating those of one’s opponent. Chess may also require accepting some losses in order to achieve a greater win—as exemplified by the Lasker-Bauer game that Justice Wynn uses as inspiration for his grand plan. The problem with such games is that there are multiple players, and there’s no way to reliably predict the other players’ strategies. This is exemplified when Avery’s apartment is bugged by Major Vance and his team. Theoretically, the surveillance should give Major Vance the upper hand, allowing him insights into Avery’s daily activities and plans. However, once Avery discovers the bugs, she keeps them intact and leverages them to her advantage, providing Major Vance with false clues as to her plans and thoughts. This is one way that Avery is ultimately able to “beat” Major Vance at his own game.

Power games are explored in many forms here. Beyond those played for more obvious motives, like financial greed, there are subtler power games afoot. Avery’s mother, Rita, wields her own form of power by emotionally abusing and manipulating her daughter as a way of retaining some form of control in her life—in this case, over her daughter’s emotions and finances, since she has no control over her own actions. Like Justice Wynn, Indira is affected by her own degenerative disease, which makes her stake in the merger a much heavier one than Nigel’s; they work as a team, united by a common goal, but are driven by different motivations. “Power,” for Indira, is actually her health. Ultimately, the biogenetic weapon engineered to target a particular population is a power play on a much larger scale, as was the original partitioning of India by the British.

The narrative invokes the Lasker-Bauer match repeatedly not just to help Avery figure out how to play Justice Wynn’s game but also to keep up a constant refrain reminding the reader that such games inherently cannot be won without sacrificing players—whether key characters who are powerful figures themselves, like the “bishops” Ani and Wynn, or relatively innocent figures, or “pawns,” like the extorted nurse Jamie, who loses her life in the game without ever gaining from it.