Character Analysis
Noah is notable for three things—being Tilly's twin brother, Delphine's love interest, and super eager to go to war. And because of this, he provides the motivation for Tilly and Delphine's journey to Cairo, which strengthens their relationship and leads to the big reveal of Delphine's identity.
We might say Noah is kind of a tool, though only in the best of ways. His purpose in the story is to help other characters get to where they need to go, particular when it comes to Tilly and Delphine. Because of this, we don't know much about the guy. One thing we do know is that he is quiet—"Most times, he could make a tree seem talkative" (3.6)—but once Delphine comes along and he wants to impress her, he suddenly finds his voice. As Tilly notes at one point, "That was the longest speech that ever come out of that boy's mouth. Was he running for office?" (4.53). What can we say? Noah's willing to step outside his comfort zone for love.
Beyond this, though, Noah's story arc is a fairly typical one in which a boy becomes a man through his experiences in war. Check him out as he waits to head off to war:
He stands between us in his forage cap, proud in his big new uniform that he seems to be peering out of, not wearing. But his arms hang stiff at his sides, the cuffs to his knuckles, a soldier boy before the battle. There's something missing in his eyes, a vacancy, as if he couldn't wait and has gone on ahead. (13.4)
Notice that Noah's uniform is too big, and he's even called a "soldier boy"—he's on the cusp of adulthood but not quite there yet. The war pushes him squarely onto adult terrain, though, so when Noah finally returns to consciousness after the amputation of his arm, Tilly says, "I laughed for pure joy until I wanted to cry. But when I looked deeper into Noah's eyes, I seen the boy was gone, and so the perfect moment passed" (14.29). No more kid here. Thanks to the war, Noah is all grown up.
As Delphine's partner, Noah is also affected by her status as a free person of color. After the war, Delphine refuses to marry him because marrying white men goes against the traditions of her culture. Though we never hear from Noah himself on the subject, Tilly says, "It liked to break Noah's heart" (15.35). We imagine it must also be heartbreaking to have to pretend his son is his nephew, but Noah goes along with it, probably to protect both his partner and their child from the legal and cultural prejudice and discrimination characteristic of the time.