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Chapter 33
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Anxious People, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Parenting and Fear
Marriage, Conflict, and Communication
Mental Health and Connection
The Modern World
Assumptions
Summary
Analysis
The bank robber asks the hostages if they think someone is in the bathroom. Zara asks if the bank robber’s parents were siblings and Ro tells Zara to stop being mean. Julia tells everyone to shut up, even Zara. Meanwhile, Roger helps Anna-Lena up. He begins knocking on the walls. Anna-Lena loves it when he does this: it’s like he expects the wall to knock back. But suddenly, Roger stops knocking and marches to the bathroom door. Anna-Lena cries for him to stop and begs him not to open the door. Roger has no idea why she’s so scared. Zara knocks on the bathroom door, and someone knocks back.
Because Ro and the bank robber already connected over their discussion of the aquarium, Ro is now willing to stand up for the robber when Zara insults them. Anna-Lena’s love for Roger shines through as she muses about how much she loves it when he knocks on the walls. She finds his quirks charming and heartwarming. But something is clearly wrong, given Anna-Lena’s distraught reaction as it becomes increasingly clear that someone is in the bathroom.
Themes
