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Part 6, Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory and Meaning
Love and Vulnerability
Freedom
Art, Creativity, and Expression
Wonder and Knowledge
Summary
Analysis
New York City. September 4, 2014. It begins as an ordinary day. Addie and Henry wake up in bed together. Henry feels happy—or he tells himself to feel happy, anyway. They stay in bed, and Addie tells him stories when he starts to panic. And it’s “the last gift he can give her, the listening.”
Note the date: it’s September 4, the one-year anniversary of Henry’s deal with Luc. If everything unfolds as Luc has promised that it will, Henry will be dead before the day is over. Henry’s choice to spend his last hours giving Addie “the gift” of “listening” reflects his character development: when he made the deal with Luc, he was so selfishly concerned with making others like him. Now, he understands that relationships are about reciprocity and selflessness. He’d rather spend his final hours giving himself up to someone else than being wanted by someone else.
Themes
Later, they get dressed and go out walking. Addie tells Henry that living for 300 years is no different than living for one: you just have to take things one second at a time. Eventually, they tire of walking and head to the Merchant. Henry feels a “storm brewing in his head,” and then it turns into a physical storm. So Henry tilts his head back, feels the rain on his face, and remembers the night they went to the Fourth Rail. He feels so different from the person he was one year ago who climbed up onto the rooftop.
Addie’s advice to Henry about taking things one second at a time echoes the advice that Estele gave Addie so many years ago (“How do you walk to the end of the world? […] One step at a time”). This, combined with Henry’s realization that he’s so different from how he was one year ago (before he met Addie), reflects the power that human connection has to shape a person’s life.
Themes
Now, the sun has set. And Henry will never see it again. Addie holds his hand. “Stay with me,” she tells him. Without speaking, both of them know they’ll stay together to the end.
Addie’s plea for Henry to stay with her echoes Henry’s plea in the previous chapter. This highlights how their love is based on reciprocation and mutual support—this is the opposite of Luc’s love for Addie, which is based on power and control.
Themes
