Much of this novel is about the kind of person someone becomes after a tragedy. We learn early on that Charles Longstreet (inspired by Charles Lamar, a real person) survived the explosion and the five days and five nights at sea. Twenty years later, he earned the nickname "the Red Devil." What did you make of this? Can you think of others who survived something terrible only to become someone who did horrific harm to others? Why, or how, do you think that might happen?