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Chapter 31
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The 5th Wave, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trust and Belief
Survival and Perseverance
Warfare and Dehumanization
Family
Summary
Analysis
Cassie, having escaped the Silencer, feels like she’s freezing to death and like her leg might be infected. She wonders why God spared her of all people, particularly since she was the one who killed the Crucifix Soldier. She wonders if the Silencer only let her go because she was already dying.
In fitting with the novel’s exploration of uncertainty and belief, it doesn’t offer easy answers about the existence of God. As part of her coming-of-age journey, Cassie will have to figure out for herself what she has faith in, whether it’s religion, the people around her, or something else entirely.
Themes
Cassie takes refuge in an SUV, but it snows, and by day two, there’s three feet around her. She talks to Sammy’s teddy bear, calling it Bear. Cassie thinks of her promise to protect Sammy and how everything went wrong. Everything she promised Sammy is “bullshit” and she believes she’ll never actually come back for him.
The snow shows how even the natural world seems to be turning against Cassie. She tries to go it alone through the snow, as she’s done so far, and she finally reaches her body’s limit. At the same time, she loses hope in her promise to help keep Sammy safe, showing how her physical struggles are also connected to mental ones.
Themes
