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An Empty Plate: Chapter 7
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Shadow of the Wind, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Duality and Repetition
Possessive and Obsessive Love
Fathers, Sons, and Masculinity
Reality and the Written Word
Coincidence and Determinism
Summary
Analysis
Daniel decides he has to warn Clara, whom he knows is home alone, and take the book away from her house, where it’s stored. He runs to their apartment and unlocks the door, ignoring a homeless man who begs to sleep in the lobby.
Even though Clara has just insulted him, Daniel still feels protective of her, which shows both his good nature and his exaggeratedly romantic ideals.
Themes
Daniel enters the apartment and walks through the many rooms towards Clara’s bedroom, the apartment flashing in the lightning. He retrieves the book from its usual shelf in the conservatory, thinking that he will give it to the stranger to ensure his and Clara’s safety. As Daniel passes Clara’s bedroom, he hears a deep voice. Thinking it’s the stranger, he opens the door.
Although books are important to Daniel, human relationships clearly supersede them. This differentiates him from many of the novel’s other men, to whom possessions or ideals value more than anything else.
Themes
