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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Elatsoe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Friendship
Justice
Cultural Identity and Coming of Age
Colonialism and Monsters
Death, Grief, and Healing
Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
That night, Ellie dreams she’s crossing the Herotonic railroad bridge—and then out of the mist, Trevor appears. He’s seriously injured, and he says he’s dying, explaining that a man named Abe Allerton from the town of Willowbee murdered him. Trevor is too weak to tell Ellie the details of what happened, but he says he met Abe once, two years ago at parent-teacher conferences. He asks Ellie to protect his family from Abe before smiling sadly and disappearing.
By sharing at the outset who the murderer is, the novel shifts focus to other questions, such as why and how Trevor was murdered. Shifting focus in this way suggests that these other questions are more compelling—and perhaps don’t have straightforward or satisfying answers.
Themes
