The City of Ember Themes

The City of Ember transports the reader to the titular city, Ember—which, unbeknownst to its residents, exists underground. The city, which has existed for over 200 years, is in crisis: power outages are becoming more frequent, while stores of food and supplies, especially light bulbs, are running low. Twelve-year-olds Lina and Doon formally come of age in this tense environment when, at the beginning of the novel, their schooling ends and they receive their job…

Soon after entering the adult working world, both Lina and Doon—but Doon in particular—make shocking discoveries that point to the inarguable fact that Ember isn’t the idyllic, if somewhat troubled, place they’ve been told it is. Rather, Ember is plagued by more than just the darkness of power outages: food, medicine, and supply shortages mean that everyone lives in a somewhat desperate state, while at all levels of Ember’s government and administration, power, secrecy…

All of Ember’s residents learn the history of their city in school. They are told simply that, years ago, the Builders built Ember to last, with everything it would need to do so. For many in Ember, this knowledge is more than enough—it means that they should, in theory, be able to trust that the Builders left them enough food, light bulbs, and other supplies to live comfortably, presumably for the rest of time. However…