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Life After Death
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Monster Calls, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death, Denial, and Acceptance
Storytelling
Isolation
Family and Growing Up
Summary
Analysis
Conor’s grandmother wakes Conor up at the foot of the yew tree, thanking God that she found him. She pulls him into an embrace, and then starts yelling at him, saying that she’s been frantically looking for him for hours. She quickly pulls him to the car, saying that they have to go to the hospital.
The fact that Conor’s grandmother is frantically looking for him shows how much she truly cares about Conor, and that she will serve as a parent going forward when his mother can no longer be.
Themes
In the car, Conor apologizes. Conor’s grandmother notes that they’re “not the most natural fit,” but that they’re going to have to learn how to live together. Conor says he knows. His grandmother starts to cry, grateful that Conor understands. She also says that they have something in common: his mother. Conor recognizes what she means: his mother is the most important person to either of them, and “that was a lot to have in common.”
One of the benefits of the monster’s stories is that they have allowed Conor to realize that there’s no one to blame: not the monster, not himself, not his father, and certainly not his grandmother. Conor understands more fully that his grandmother is going through the same things that he is, which allows them to form a bond.
Themes
