Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses death by suicide, misogyny, gender essentialism, and cult activity.

Don is a collector of Roman and Greek antiques, and these antiques are symbolic of his adherence to what he considers “traditional” gender roles. His multiple references to Aristotle, including taking the name Nico Stagiritis—derived from Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, and his birthplace, Stagira—likewise serve to emphasize his desire to emulate what he considers to be the peak of masculinity. The pugio in his collection is a dagger, which Shay notes has a blackened tip, and Don uses the dagger when he forces Shay, Laurel, and Rachel to punish Clem for trying to escape. Rachel then uses the dagger when she kills Clem, and Laurel wields the pugio when she is interrogating Shay. In the culmination of the novel, Don uses the pugio to cut open Shay’s shirt, and he remarks on how the Norse axe is a fitting weapon to oppose the pugio, referring to the “pagan” Norse against the “civilized” Romans.

The symbolism of the pugio is the full weight of Don’s desire for total control and dominance over women. Specifically, it is a physical representation of the violent ideals that guide Don and the rest of the Paters in their goal of subjugating all women.