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Chapter 82
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
Back with Sammy and Cassie, Cassie explains the situation to Sammy. She knows from Evan that there are escape pods with a preprogrammed route on the base designed for one person that Sammy and Cassie might both be able to fit into. But Cassie decides she doesn’t trust the pods and wants to take Sammy out on her own. Sammy asks about their dad, and Cassie says he’s waiting outside.
Cassie’s decision not to trust the escape pods once again reflects her sense of self-sufficiency. The idea of going through life on a pre-programmed route, like the escape pods, goes against everything she holds dear. The reminder that Sammy doesn’t know yet about his father’s death shows how Cassie herself is resilient and has managed to keep fighting for a better future even after experiencing the trauma of losing her dad. Now, she tries to protect Sammy from the heartbreak.
Themes
As Cassie walks out with Sammy, she sees a doctor who looks surprised at her. She wonders whether she’ll have to shoot. The doctor pulls out his own gun and Cassie raises her rifle, but Sammy jumps in the middle. He pulls down the doctor’s surgical mask, revealing Ben, whom Cassie knows from high school and Sammy knows as Zombie.
This scene is tense because at first Cassie and Ben don’t realize that they’re allies and each is prepared to use violence to protect Sammy. When Sammy jumps in between them, he puts himself at risk, providing yet another example of how trusting others requires vulnerability. But it also shows how this trust can be rewarded, as Sammy manages to successfully defuse the situation.
Themes
Ben and Cassie both explain how they ended up where they are. Cassie doesn’t know where to find the escape pods, but Ben thinks he has a clue about a way out of the camp.
Ben and Cassie reunite after having both gone through immense changes to their character. The fact that they came through such extreme circumstances to see each other again is a sign of humanity’s resilience and drive to connect.
Themes
