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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in It Ends with Us, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cycles of Abuse
Naked Truths
Good and Evil
Chosen Family
Summary
Analysis
A week has passed since Ryle and Lily moved into their new apartment. Allysa is three days past her due date. Lily feels incredibly lucky to have a beautiful home, a thriving business, a loving husband, and a new family in Allysa, Marshall, and the baby. Lily’s joy only increases when Ryle arrives home with three pieces of good new. The first is a newspaper, which shows that Lily Bloom’s floral shop has been voted third for best new businesses in Boston. His second bit of news is that he was selected for the Cambridge trip. The two of them celebrate with a kiss. Lily asks what the third things is, and Ryle nonchalantly responds that Allysa went into labor.
This period of peace and joy following Ryle’s last violent attack seems to be holding out. With the addition of the good news Ryle delivers about their careers and the baby, it seems as though the chance Lily took on Ryle is paying off. This follows the pattern that abuse often takes; after reconciliation, there is a period of equilibrium before the abuse recurs. Unfortunately, the catalyst for an abusive episode is often impossible to anticipate, as is the case for Lily.
Themes
Later, Marshall comes out to the hospital waiting room where Lily and Ryle are sitting to tell them that he has a daughter. They join Allysa and the new baby in their room, and Ryle holds his new niece. Allysa tells him that they named her Rylee after her uncle. Lily feels her love for Ryle grow even deeper as he holds Rylee. Ryle tells Lily they should make their own. When Ryle says he needs to go home to get some rest, Lily elects to stay behind to spend more time with Allysa and Rylee. Ryle tells her that they can get started on making a baby when she gets home.
Allysa and Marshall name their daughter Rylee in honor of Ryle, showing Allysa’s close bond with her brother and her recognition of the ways she has seen him grow. Lily sees this improvement as well, especially when Ryle admires his new niece. When he says he wants to have a baby too, this seems to confirm both the good Lily sees growing in her husband and the alignment of their future hopes.
Themes
