In the novel, Byzantium College is depicted as the principal institution corrupting young Turkish women — both a literal and figurative enclave of the foreign powers who invaded, but failed to hold Istanbul. According to the novel, the "Greek" and "foreign" architecture of the school — possibly a reference to the Greek ionic columns of Gould Hall — provides those visiting its campus a sense of entering into a separate country. Throughout the book, the school is described thus: "truly, this was the capital city of an American-Armenian country... [it was] like a separate country within our motherland". Similar anti-Armenian sentiments dominate the novel: in the school's museum, artifacts by Armenian, Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian peoples are displayed, whereas Turkish culture is denied.