Since sunlight symbolizes disillusioning reality, shade represents whatever ideal or expedient people use to remain within their sustaining dream-ideal. Shade imagery will recur throughout the novel, sometimes in humorous ways. Here, Giorgio significantly stands in the shade in order to view Higuerota -- the Ideal. The shade comes from his hotel (later named the Inn of United Italy), so this symbolic shelter represents his idealized vision of a united Republic.

When considering Viola, it is important to note that his ideal of Republican Liberty is an ideal of a formally unified society: it presumes a structure of laws and duties that would work to benefit the people. It is quite distinct from the ideals of anarchy or socialism, which attempt to benefit the people by exploding or undermining laws and structures.