The significance of this quote is that it proves the innocence of Tom’s dad and demonstrates how systemic racism can cause people to kill those undeserving of death, similar to how the awakening of cthulhu would lead to the undeserving death of billions of people. For even further proof, another instance of where there is needless death caused by police brutality similar to that of a Lovecraftian God is when the police chase after Tom. During this encounter, the novel reveals that “At the sight of the heavy machine guns, the whole neighborhood hasped as one. These guns were designed to shoot airplanes out of the sky. Much of the local population had fled countries under siege, in the midst of war, and had not expected to find such artillery used against citizens of the United States” (Lavalle 116). Here, while the police are supposed to be after Tom in this instance in the novel, during the raid they harm and rest various minorities. This shows how the police view people like Tom as the