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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Great Alone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Violence
Paranoia and the Vietnam War
Isolation
Family and Community
Death and Grief
Coming of Age
Summary
Analysis
After Cora dies, Leni’s grandmother gives her a box of trinkets from Cora’s past. Leni looks at them and tries to piece together where they fit into her mother’s life. Included among Cora’s things is a letter from Cora, which urges Leni to return to Alaska. It also includes two one-way tickets. Although her grandparents try to talk her out of it, Leni insists on going to Alaska with MJ. She wants to respect her mother’s dying wish and introduce MJ to Matthew.
Although Cora thinks her confession will exonerate Leni, the Gollihers aren’t so sure. This is alarming, particularly because Mr. Golliher is a lawyer. Nonetheless, Leni wants to return to Alaska for the sake of herself, Cora, and MJ. She’s never found happiness in Seattle, despite the Gollihers’ best efforts, and so, to her, Alaska is worth the risk.
Themes
Leni takes a plane to Homer and then makes her way to the police station. Inside, she finds Chief Ward and hands him her mother’s letter. Chief Ward expresses his sympathy for Leni and then asks her if she had anything to do with her father’s murder. Trusting Chief Ward, Leni admits that she was an accomplice to her mother’s crime. Chief Ward asks her to write a signed confession and tells her that after she does so, she won’t have to worry anymore. Leni does as he says and writes her confession. She hands the confession to Chief Ward, who then proceeds to lock her up. He tells her that he has no choice. Shocked, Leni asks him to call Tom Walker.
Even as a college graduate and a mother, Leni remains rather gullible. As Mr. Golliher feared, she is immediately locked up and is at risk of losing MJ. Not only that, but she’s also signed a confession herself, which is incredibly damaging to her legal case. However, as Leni has learned throughout the novel, it helps to have friends in high places and Tom Walker is on the way.
Themes
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