Previous
Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The City of Ember, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
Selfishness, Greed, and Corruption
Family and Community
Censorship
Summary
Analysis
The boat streaks into the tunnel, plunging Lina, Doon, and Poppy into complete darkness. The river is rough, so Doon and Lina roll into each other. Lina closes her eyes and clings to Poppy. The current slows after a while, so Doon lights a candle. The boat lurches, making it difficult, but his candle illuminates a wide tunnel. He lights another and they jam several in at the edge of the boat. Eventually, the boat moves into a huge room with columns of rock coming out of the water and down from the ceiling. They use the paddles to knock the boat free from the columns.
Though the river runs through complete darkness, which once meant nothing but terror for them, the candles allow Lina and Doon to deal with their fears and commit to their journey. Further, at this point Lina and Doon are truly on their own—in addition to finding themselves in a parenting role to Poppy, in the absence of other adults.
Themes
On the other side of the huge room, the current picks up again. Lina and Doon place Poppy between them and huddle together. Lina can’t tell how long they travel, but eventually they reach another pool. Doon lights more candles, but they can’t see where they’re supposed to go. When they see a flat rock expanse on one side, Lina climbs out to investigate and discovers a path. Doon and Lina pull the boat out and Poppy, thrilled to be on land, stomps around. Lina settles Poppy in a safe spot so they can retrieve Doon’s pack, the candles, and the matches.
Though Lina has generally seemed competent in her ability to care for Poppy throughout the novel, it’s even more important now that she keep an eye on the toddler, since Lina and Doon are Poppy’s only caregivers now. This does mean that Lina has forced her and Doon to become even more adult, since they don’t just have to care for themselves over the course of this journey.
Themes
Doon notices that Poppy has something. Startled by Lina’s shout, Poppy drops it. It’s a packet of some kind. While they eat, they pull off the packet’s wrapping and realize it’s a book. The first line reads, “They tell us we leave tonight.” Doon and Lina are confused, but they decide to save it and read it later. As they eat, Lina says that she told Mrs. Murdo the truth when she took Poppy: that she’s taking Poppy to safety. Lina says she knows now that Ember isn’t safe for anyone. With horror, Lina realizes she forgot to give Mrs. Murdo the note intended for Clary. There’s no way to go back to tell them. Lina laments that because they wanted to announce their find dramatically, no one knows. There’s nothing else to do, so Lina and Doon fill their water bottles and begin to hike up the path.
Realizing that Ember is wholly unsafe is Lina’s final coming-of-age moment, as it shows that she no longer believes any of what she grew up believing. Though Ember worked well for a long time, Lina is able to recognize that it’s no longer functioning as it should or safely, and the only course of action is to leave. Now, they also discover the consequences of trying to orchestrate sharing their news at the Singing: no one else knows where they are. This makes it clear that selfishness like they experienced has dire, and potentially life-threatening, consequences.
Themes
