In the beginning, June is repulsed by what she sees in the Lake Sector. This changes as the novel progresses. How/why does this change occur?

In the beginning, June is disgusted by the filthy streets and grinding poverty in the Lake Sector. In the following chapters, June’s experiences begin to change her. When she first went undercover in the poor Lake sector, she looked down on the people around her and had trouble empathizing with them. Although Metias had told her about the importance of having empathy for people who are less fortunate, June was not able to take this lesson seriously because she had never experienced life in a poor sector. Her time in the Republic has been largely sheltered.

Now that she has interacted with poor people, she begins to understand their lives and feel compassion for them. “I still can’t get used to the crumbling walls, the lines of worn clothing hanging from the balconies” she explains, “but at the very least, my disdain has faded. I think back with some shame on the night of Metias’s funeral, when I’d left a giant steak untouched on my plate, without a second thought” (127). Throughout the novel, June will continue to feel this sense of discomfort with her own privilege. Ultimately, this discomfort will lead her to embrace Day’s anti-Republic views.