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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Things We Didn’t See Coming, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Morality and Survival
Apocalypse vs. Routine
Body as Currency vs. Body as Liability
Wealth, Privilege, and Value
Care and Companionship under Crisis
Summary
Analysis
The flu, the pandemic, the weather, and the border clashes have now all led to “an era of violence.” Though a new truce has been announced, that hasn’t stopped the on-the-ground fighting. Still, this latest government is desperate to function well, so they have put out a call for applicants. The narrator is an ideal candidate: he worked in a previous administration, and he has no giant crimes on his record.
The unified government that Juliet put together seems to be a thing of the past (though this new government also appears to be unconnected with the entity responsible for the Barricades). Despite this political upheaval, however, the narrator looks for consistency, hoping to get yet another government job.
Themes
Now, the narrator arrives at the new base, where he is given a key (“for your valuables”) and led onto a gleaming green lawn. To get here, the narrator had to submit a proposal for the new regime, preferably one that incorporated the government’s language of “care and reconciliation.” Hundreds of other government employees, all bedraggled but trying their best, also applied—and the narrator waits for his interview in a sea of other people just like him.
The values of “care and reconciliation” that this new government espouses stand in stark contrast to the practical, transactional values evident in Juliet’s speeches and the practical union contract. For the first time, it seems like the novel’s society may actually be shifting in its approaches and ideals.
Themes
The narrator’s number is called, and he realizes that he will be the first to be interviewed. The crowd bursts into cheers, buoyed by the knowledge that there are now overseas investors in this government, that there might really be hope. An administrator in an orange toga, an older woman named Karuna, greets the narrator. She scans the narrator’s key and leads him through a door on the side of the stage, down an elevator.
The mention of overseas investors is interesting, as it raises a question not previously answered in the novel—is this country (likely the U.S.) the only nation to have experienced such extreme crises? The bright colors described in this chapter (Karuna’s orange toga, the green lawn) further signify a new, more hopeful trend.
Themes
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Karuna explains that the committee responded well to the narrator’s proposal, and that they are impressed by the “scope” of his past. Privately, the narrator is proud that he never did anything too criminal—nothing that couldn’t be justified as an “apocalyptic choice.” Karuna opens another door and leads the narrator through a hallway filled with cabinets used for paper files. This kind of cabinet is a relic of a previous age, and Karuna is proud that they have so many of them.
Throughout the story, the narrator has struggled to balance morality and honesty with the theft and treachery necessary for survival. Now, he congratulates himself on having struck the right balance: he has made the best, most moral choices that he could under such “apocalyptic” circumstances.
Themes
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After a minute, Karuna finds the filing cabinet that belongs to the narrator. Then, the two walk to a secure room; as they walk, Karuna talks about the narrator’s “missing years,” the ones not recorded on his files. Since these were the years when he stole jewelry and counterfeited government records, the narrator would prefer not to talk about them. The narrator smells muffins, and he wonders if the scent has been piped in just for him, since he loves muffins.
To most readers, filing cabinets would feel boring and unimportant, but now they have become a valued commodity. At the same time, the ability to pipe scent into a room based on a person’s preferences (as happens with the muffins) seems impossibly high-tech. By comparing these two events, the novel hints that progress is less linear than it appears to be—for every advance, a piece of knowledge or technology is lost.
Themes
The narrator wants to talk about his proposal, but Karuna—her eyes careful, but not warm—brushes past it. Instead, she has the narrator open his box, which includes an old pair of his boots, jeans, a dress shirt, a copy of the book Ragtime that he never read, and 700 dollars in old paper money. Privately, the narrator is curious about the valuables in other people’s boxes, while Karuna wonders why he is not more excited to be reunited with old possessions.
While Karuna expects the narrator to have sentimental connections to the objects in this box, the narrator’s own clear-eyed view reflects a deep understanding of capitalist value: since these items are not pricey, the narrator is not interested in them, despite the link they might provide to his past.
Themes
Worried that he’s done something wrong, the narrator feigns excitement, running his fingers over the items. Karuna scoffs, thinking about the people who fall to tears when confronted with an old brass thimble. She commiserates with the narrator, who himself used to work in disaster relief. The narrator tries to stay professional and impress Karuna, but she insists that though the two of them are separated by a metaphorical fence, “you and I know it’s not really that high.”
Karuna’s desire to commiserate with the narrator echoes a common theme throughout the book: whether it was with Liz and Jenna, the psych doctor, or the sick man, the narrator has often found that those in positions of power are almost identical in circumstance and behavior to those without power. Still, Karuna’s insistence on this fact in an interview setting is unnerving to the narrator, who just wants to impress.
Themes
Karuna encourages the narrator to try on his old clothes, and he does. Suddenly, Karuna breaks down, admitting that though they have these boxes with people’s things, they don’t actually know who is alive and who is dead. She admits that she lost her two children in the first Barricade, to asthma attacks; devastated, she and her husband split soon after. The narrator does his best to respond to this sad story, intentionally using Karuna’s first name and making his tone as soothing as possible.
The fact that Karuna brings this story up in an interview context suggests that she is testing the narrator in some hard-to-guess way. After years in disaster relief, the narrator is able to go through the motions of listening and providing comfort, even if he seems more concerned with the impression he is making than with Karuna’s actual feelings.
Themes
At the same time, the narrator cannot help but feel that none of this really hurts Karuna. As if on cue, Karuna tells the narrator to stop worrying about making a good impression, then leads him aboveground. For the first time in years, the narrator feels safe outside, and he realizes that Karuna might be manipulating him, trying to get him to be candid with her in the clean air.
Even the most natural, foundational elements of being alive—like going outside—are now transactional and untrustworthy, another sign that every element of daily life has been corrupted by the need to survive crisis after crisis.
Themes
Karuna begins to ask the narrator what he enjoyed about his “lost years.” At first, he talks about traveling, but this seems to bore Karuna. The narrator admits that he sometimes enjoyed theft, then worries he’s overstepped—but Karuna assures him that they never found records of serious crimes. “I didn’t file a report every time,” the narrator jokes, earning Karuna’s approval. She assures the narrator that he is “completely, and I mean completely, among friends.”
Just as Karuna wanted the narrator to associate his own past with her current job, she now hopes he will be honest with her about his dishonesty—a contradiction that leaves the narrator feeling stranded about how to behave. Fascinatingly, this is one of the only times in the entire novel that the word “friends” is used; though romantic and sexual partnerships have survived the apocalypse, friendship seems to have mostly fallen by the wayside.
Themes
Now, Karuna leads the narrator back in the building; this time, they go down a set of stairs instead of using the elevators. The narrator asks if this is standard procedure, and Karuna admits that it’s unusual—but the new regime teaches its employees to honor their impulses. She explains that, sparked by the narrator’s honesty, she had an impulse to bring him here.
Karuna is breaking the rules, but with such consistency that it is hard to know whether she is an erratic person or whether she is trying to trap the narrator in some way. This new government’s instinctual approach seems to challenge the strategic thinking of people like Dad and Margo, who pride themselves on looking months or years into the future.
Themes
Karuna points to a box marked “UNMATCHED.” The box is filled with valuable metals, and though the narrator is hesitant to touch it, Karuna encourages him. He notices a jeweled watch, something he himself had stolen years before. Whereas he hesitated with his own items, instinctively, he reaches for this watch. Karuna admits that she has been taking items from many of the file cabinet boxes, to help provide for her partner “on the inside.” The narrator confesses that he, too, had stolen the watch back in the day.
The symbolic jeweled watch ties back to Juliet’s diamond bracelet and to the narrator’s own thefts with Margo; perhaps this is even an item they stole together. Now, it is difficult for the narrator (and the reader) to separate sentimental value from financial value—does the narrator want the watch because it could help him get ahead in the world, or because it links him to people he misses?
Themes
Karuna applauds the narrator for his clarity, and she clutches him tightly as she breaks down into tears. Then she gives the narrator the jeweled watch, confusing him. He tries to get back to his interview, and Karuna panics, wondering if he is judging her. Without any other option, the narrator confesses that he wants the fancy watch but he doesn’t want to hurt his chances. Karuna rolls her eyes, instructing the narrator to clean up the spilled box. As he does so, he pockets the watch. Karuna announces it is time for his review.
Karuna’s fast-changing emotions make the narrator feels that his truthfulness is hurting him in this interview process more than it is helping him succeed. It only makes sense, then, to steal the watch when Karuna isn’t looking (or even if she is)—not so much because he wants the watch, but because he feels that is what is expected of him.
Themes
The narrator’s interviewers, Francis and Jeannie, are “old-school military types.” The narrator wants to talk about his proposal, but the interviewers are more interested in his past—his minimal theft, his time spent in both urban and rural communities, his “businessman”-like demeanor, and his “genuine honesty, kindness and patience.”
The dishonesty that Karuna encouraged is now contradicted by the “honesty” and “kindness” that these interviewers seek from the narrator. The narrator cannot tell if the trio of interviewers is hoping to see him strike a balance between survivalism and good conduct. After all, maybe they themselves are at odds about the values of their new government.
Themes
Francis and Jeannie reveal that they have been monitoring the narrator’s limbic responses the entire time; his responses have shown that he is being honest or, when honesty is not an option, being thoughtful and considerate. Jeannie permits the narrator to keep the watch, mentioning again how skilled at business he is. He expresses some surprise that this new government uses the out-of-date notion of “business in government,” but Jeannie just sneers: “it’s just words.”
At the beginning of the chapter, the narrator admired this government’s novel focus on “care and reconciliation” (language that, significantly, echoes the rhetoric Germany used in its attempts to move on from Hitler’s atrocities in World War II). But now, the same capitalist, transactional, “business”-like language reappears, making it seem like these values are more for show than anything.
Themes
Jeannie then begins to ask the narrator if he believes he can not only act with complete honesty, but also enforce that honesty in others. Karuna is getting more and more anxious, especially when Francis asks if the narrator has anything he wants to share about his interview. The narrator doesn’t know if he should report Karuna’s strange behavior—but torn between compassion and enforcement, he chooses compassion. The three interviewers look at each other, and then smile. The narrator has gotten the job.
Over the course of the interview, Karuna confessed to stealing, behaved erratically, and even encouraged the narrator to be dishonest. By the end of this exchange, however, it is clear that Karuna’s behavior was all a test—and that the narrator’s willingness to choose compassion over conduct (and therefore some measure of dishonesty over absolute truth) is what will secure him the job.
Themes
Francis steps back to reveal a wall, covered with an abstract image of the narrator’s body. The image is covered with blue and pink blobs, which are clearest around the jeans, boots, and shirt. The narrator realizes that his confusion registers as a gray blob in his brain, while his anxiety shows up as red tinges across his body. When the narrator realizes how much his interviewers truly know about him (“I’m part of a whole”), he relaxes, and his whole body turns blue. He asks one more time to talk about his proposal, but Jeannie just snorts with laughter.
In the section with Jeph, the narrator saw how much physical risk his body could put him in. Now, surveillance technology has advanced to the point that the narrator’s body can be an emotional liability, too, giving clues to his honesty and strategy (and thus denying him of many of his earlier survival tactics). The narrator’s desire to be part of a whole mirrors his hopes of integrating fully with Margo and Juliet, a wish for companionship that can never quite be fulfilled in this damaged world. Jeannie’s laugh also signals that the proposal, ostensibly in line with the “care and reconciliation” slogan, is a red herring—what this government really cares about is business.
Themes
