Q Clearance Themes & Symbolism

Q Clearance Significant Topics

Politics

Because the setting is Washington, D.C., the most obvious theme is related to the political maneuverings that occur in that city. The novel takes a particularly humorous take on the American political system and pokes fun at the ways that important decisions are made. Timothy Burnham's rise to power is based on silly misunderstandings and his fall from grace is equally affected by coincidences that show the haphazard nature of the political system.

Timothy Burnham's Q Clearance is the earliest sign that something is strange in the way that power is allocated in Washington, D.C. Burnham has no training or qualifications to have access to atomic energy documents, but they are made available to him through a bureaucratic procedure. Burnham's rise to power in the White House is also not based on any training or qualifications. Instead, the President assumes that a fake telephone message written on Burnham's folder is...
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