Among the Betrayed

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of physical abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, and death. 

The Population Police is a recurring symbol of governmental oppression and manipulation. While the Government remains an abstract force in the narrative, the Population Police concretizes its totalitarian authority. They are responsible for enforcing dehumanizing laws against third children and their families, even executing them. They appear in Nina’s nightmares, and she dreams that they “carried shovels and scooped her up like trash on the street. Sometimes they carried guns and prodded her in the back or pointed at her head” (1). This highlights the psychological trauma they inflict on young children in this world.

As a corruptive force, the Population Police also attempt to manipulate morality. They try to manipulate Nina into betraying third children, reflecting their methods of division and subjugation. Even after escaping from prison, Nina lives in constant fear that she might be caught again, reinforcing The Corrosive Impact of Totalitarianism.

However, the novel highlights that even the darkest and most totalitarian political system is not impenetrable. The plot twist reveals Mr. Talbot’s role as a “double agent” for the Population Police and his intention to “double-cross” them (141).