“Capital punishment should be capital.”

In the novel’s epigraph, the Postman uses a pun to state his philosophy that executions should be entertaining. Capital offenses—like murder—are crimes that are punishable by death. In saying these crimes should be “capital” the Postman uses the adjective in the old-fashioned sense of meaning “excellent” or “splendid.” His quote immediately sets the novel’s darkly humorous tone.

“That had been the main selling point of the Postman—justice. But was it really delivered?”

Dee is one of the few to question the morality of the Postman app and the public executions on Alcatraz 2.0. Dee’s questioning leads to her own understanding of justice in her pursuit of the truth, a major theme in the novel.

“So, best-case scenario: T-shirts depicting her mangled corpse, a smart-phone case sporting her skewered Cinderella silhouette and the hashtag “#ADeathIsAWishYourHeartMakes, a shot glass shaped like a cracked glass slipper. The world was so messed up.”

Dee cynically contemplates the merchandise that her death on Alcatraz 2.0 might generate on the Postman’s e-store, an early illustration of the novel’s themes of desensitization and the dangers of monetizing the penal system. This quote also features one of the novel’s many allusions, to the song “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from the animated film Cinderella (1950).