Theme Reflector - Devon Blog #4

The theme of the novel is reflected in a negative and a positive way throughout chapters 19-23. On page 162, Jack and Anna are talking about Cameron, and Jack says "She thought it would be cool to just... you know...live for a year." After Jack notices what he says, his mood completely changes and he doesn't want to be around Anna anymore. This showed how even though it's been a while, when he tries to talk about Cameron with Anna he can't help getting mad at her and blame her for the accident. Jack knows it wasn't Anna's fault, but Cameron was his first girlfriend, and her death messes with his emotions so much he can't help but blame Anna because she's alive, but Cameron isn't. The theme however, is shown positively on page 183, when Anna says "Maybe it's more like 'I can be okay driving.'". This shows how Anna is slowly moving on from the accident. At first, Anna wasn't able to drive because she felt guilty and out of control, but ever since talking with her therapist, she has been gradually getting better. Anna finally being able to drive again shows great improvement with her understanding that the accident wasn't her fault, because she wasn't able to control the fact that there was a tree branch in the road. The theme is also being expressed through Ellen on page 185, when Anna describes "She's holding a plastic razor in one hand and shaving cream in the other, and the tub is running, and she's crying." This quote shows the theme because it shows how the accident effected Ellen, even though she seemed okay at first. It shows how she's been holding her feelings inside, but once one little thing upsets her, she lets it all out. She's upset because of how her leg looks out of the cast, because she sees the real damage that happened to her after the accident. However, the theme is shown negatively on page 199 when Anna says "If you haven't killed anybody, you might think there's nothing worse than shaking and vomiting uncontrollably on the floor of the hall of the SAT building..." Anna had a panic attack, because some girl kept screaming, and then finally stops. This shows how, although Anna got over not being able to drive, the screaming then stop reminds her of the accident again, and makes her upset all over again.