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Chapter 39: Dear Sirs
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lessons in Chemistry, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender Inequality
Science vs. Religion
Overcoming Tragedy and Trauma
Family
Summary
Analysis
Elizabeth and Wakely spend an evening together on the back step of her house talking to each other. During their talk, Elizabeth reveals that she has read his letters to Calvin and shares that Calvin chose to work at Hastings partly because of Wakely’s remarks about the climate.
Elizabeth and Wakely’s conversation on the back step of her house is a moment of deep personal connection, with Elizabeth sharing intimate details of her and Calvin's past. It is the type of conversation she has rarely had since Calvin’s death.
Themes
Wakely recalls the secrets he and Madeline shared: Madeline told him about Six-Thirty's ability to understand 981 words while he confessed to her his disbelief in God. The conversation then shifts to Elizabeth’s brother John and her lingering guilt over his suicide. Wakely perceives that Elizabeth needs to come to terms with John’s fate and accept herself to find peace.
Wakely and Elizabeth’s exchange about the secrets reveals a mutual trust and understanding. Both are dealing with difficult issues in their lives that they have trouble reconciling, and they share those issues with each other. Notably, Wakely, perhaps the only upstanding religious character in the novel, does not believe in God.
Themes
Elizabeth, opening up further, confesses to Wakely that she empathizes with John’s feelings and sometimes harbors thoughts of wanting to end her life. Wakely insightfully suggests that Elizabeth's real struggle is not a desire to escape her life, but rather a deep-seated yearning to fully re-engage with it.
