The City of Ember: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

Lina and Poppy spend the day at Mrs. Murdo’s neat apartment. There are three lavender turnips on the table, and Lina thinks that Mrs. Murdo put them there in part because they’re pretty. Lina spends all day on the couch under a warm blanket, feeling sad but comforted too. The next day, Lina gets up to go to work. Mrs. Murdo makes her breakfast and they discuss the upcoming Singing, which they both love. Mrs. Murdo tells Lina that she’ll care for Poppy today and when Lina gets home later, they can talk about where to go from here—Lina and Poppy can’t live alone. Mrs. Murdo shows Lina her empty bedroom, which is cozily decorated in green and blue. Lina thanks Mrs. Murdo, but Mrs. Murdo briskly says that it’s just common sense.

Three days after Lina and Doon’s excursion into the Pipeworks, they still haven’t heard word of an announcement. Lina doesn’t understand why the man they saw is keeping his discovery of a way out of Ember to herself. As she works, she notices that people seem gloomy and scared. Lots of shops are closed or open reduced hours. Inside, she feels strange and repeats “alone in the world” to herself. It’s not true, since she has Poppy, Mrs. Murdo, and friends, but she also feels like she’s become her own mother since Granny died. Gradually, Lina begins to focus more on Mrs. Murdo’s beautiful extra room. She feels grateful for Mrs. Murdo’s kindness and thinks that she’s not ready to be alone yet.

In the afternoon, Lina catches sight of Lizzie exiting the Supply Depot and yells. Lizzie doesn’t answer, so Lina runs after her. Lizzie only stops when Lina grabs her coat, but she seems distracted. Lina shares that Granny died, but Lizzie expresses only halfhearted sympathy. Lina asks what’s in Lizzie’s sack, and she replies that they’re groceries from the market, which confuses Lina—she saw Lizzie leave the storeroom office. Lizzie starts walking and talking even faster and says that she has a boyfriend. As Lina starts to ask about the boyfriend, Lizzie trips and spills her groceries. The cans roll away and Lizzie immediately tries to grab them. Lina picks up a can of peaches and one of creamed corn, delicacies she hasn’t had in years. Children pick up a can of applesauce.

Lizzie flashes a fake smile and tells the children and Lina that they can keep the cans before rushing away. Lina knows Lizzie is lying; the cans must’ve come from the storeroom. She wonders how much, or if, Lizzie paid for them. At home, Lina offers the cans to Mrs. Murdo, who gasps. Lina says she got the cans from a friend, but doesn’t know where her friend got them. They have a feast for dinner and it’s the best meal Lina has had in a long time. She feels bad, however, about where the food came from.

The next morning, Lina goes to find Lizzie before going to work. Lizzie tries to ignore Lina, but Lina grabs her scarf. They tussle for a minute and Lina demands to know where the cans came from. When they finally hit the ground, they both start laughing. It feels like being kids again. Lizzie finally shares that a storeroom worker, Looper Windley, is how she’s getting things. Lina remembers she carried a message for him and describes him as funny-looking, which offends Lizzie. Lizzie says that Looper explores the storerooms and finds all sorts of things in rooms that are marked as empty in the ledgers. She admits that he takes things, but not often, and says he gives things to her because he likes her. Lina realizes that Lizzie has a crush on Looper.

Lina points out that Looper is stealing and tells Lizzie that he’s taking things and then selling them for wildly high prices in his store—she knows because she bought colored pencils from him. Lizzie, however, is offended that Looper has never given her colored pencils. Lizzie insists that what Looper is doing is fine. She says that if there’s only one can of peaches, it wouldn’t do any good for everyone to know about it since only one person can have it. She offers to get Looper to find some good things for Lina. Lina immediately asks what kinds of things,  and Lizzie says he has colored paper, cough medicine, and girls’ shoes—a treasure trove. Lina knows that Lizzie is right that people will fight over the few things left in the storeroom, and she desperately wants the items for herself.

Lizzie says that Looper found a can of pineapple, and she’ll share if Lina promises not to say anything. Lizzie lists the other delicacies she’s tried and Lina thinks it wouldn’t be so wrong to try the pineapple. Smugly, Lizzie says that she and Looper finished the cans of the special things. Looper says that if it’s all going to run out soon, there’s no reason to not live well. Lina asks why Lizzie should get the food instead of other people. Lizzie says that she and Looper get it because they found it, and she reiterates that Lina can have some. Lina doesn’t think it’s fair that two people should get everything, even though she doesn’t know how they should divide up one can of applesauce among the city. Remembering how she felt when she was purchasing the colored pencils, Lina says she doesn’t want any of Looper’s cans.