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Chapter 40
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl Who Drank the Moon, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Love
Storytelling, Censorship, and Control
Memory, Forgetting, and the Future
Sorrow vs. Hope
Summary
Analysis
Luna races up the hill toward the ridge and the rising moon. She falls, and the pebbles under her hands turn into bugs. Luna remembers Xan teaching her about how caterpillars transform into butterflies in their chrysalises. Xan told her that it felt like magic and now, Luna remembers the word flying away. Luna can feel herself changing, just like the caterpillar. She runs higher and can sense a man at the top, as well as Xan. In her head, Luna hears Xan’s voice telling her to go away. Out loud, she hears the man say that he’s going to slit the Witch’s throat. Luna yells for Xan to be careful and then hears a swallow cry.
Now that Luna is aware that something important is changing, she’s able to hear Xan trying to help her and keep her safe. That Xan is trying to do this speaks to the fact that Xan understands the power of the story of the Witch, even if the story is new to her. She understands that because Antain believes in the story, he’s angry, afraid, and will try to hurt anyone who looks like they could be a witch.
Themes
Glerk drags Fyrian forward as Fyrian complains that he feels sick. He falls heavily and then vomits in some shrubs. Glerk assures him that this is probably temporary and says that they can hope for the best. They rush to the top of the ridge.
Again, Glerk’s honesty with Fyrian paves the way for them to continue to have a warm and loving relationship even after Fyrian is done growing and transforming into an adult.
Themes
The madwoman feels fantastic as she runs through the branches. Sister Ignatia pursues her. The madwoman pauses and looks wide. She sees Luna, Xan, Antain, Glerk, and Fyrian. The mountain rumbles and the madwoman says that she needs her birds and her daughter. She races toward Luna’s blue, and the paper birds find her. On the ridge, the crow crawls out of Luna’s hood and then flies ahead to see what Luna can’t see. He sees Antain holding a struggling swallow and watches Antain look down the hill at Luna, the Witch. The crow screams for Luna to run.
When the crow figures out what’s going on, it allows Luna to also begin to dissect what’s happening. With this, Luna begins to get a wider grasp of the truth and of how all these stories intersect, especially since the madwoman—Luna’s mother—is also heading for the top of the ridge. This moment, then, will be the one in which these characters can figure out the truth and stand up against censorship.
Themes
