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What We Know Now
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
Grandma then tries another tack, talking about her time as a public-school teacher. The great challenge of working for the state, she argues, is balancing responsibility to the whole with responsibility to individuals. The young guard is worried that he will get in trouble with Central for letting them through, but Grandma assures him “anything named Central doesn’t even know what you look like. I do.” At those words, the guard lets them through.
In this critical passage, Grandma emphasizes human care and companionship over self-preservation—an almost exact contradiction of Dad’s desire to “think defensively.” Grandma’s insistence that individual lives matter more than any sort of governmental whole also reflects the novel’s thematic focus on mundane, routine moments amidst moments of political or environmental crisis.
Themes
The narrator drives, and soon enough, the three of them are at the checkpoint. Though none of them have the right ID—all of their IDs are “urban cards”—Grandma is firm with the 25-year-old guard, insisting that she just wants to go back to her old rural house in Keaton. Grandma explains that she bought the property when the nation was stronger and more united. In the years since, Grandma’s descendants all had marriages and civil unions on the property, which (she says) “tells you exactly what sort of people we are.”
The focus on IDs and checkpoints hints that the narrator and his family are effectively living under a surveillance state. Grandma’s comment about civil unions implies that she has supported her descendants’ queer partnerships; she also suggests that it was her liberalism that caused her to relocate from the country to this less resourced, presumably more tolerant, urban area.
Themes
When they are almost home, the narrator realizes that Grandpa and Grandma have both taken all of their pills, killing themselves. As their breathing slows, the narrator sees a giant stack of hundreds fall out of Grandpa’s hand (“my inheritance,” he thinks). Instead of driving to the city, the narrator turns the car around. First, he will find a place to bury his grandparents—and then he will head back to the country, into the future.
There are complicated ethics to this double-suicide (is it a murder-suicide, given how little clarity Grandma has?). But more than that, Grandpa’s willingness to die rather than be without his wife suggests that, unlike the narrator’s “defensive” thinking, Grandpa would rather take care of his loved ones than survive. This moment, too, is a lesson the narrator learns, though he never internalizes this “inheritance” as much as he does Dad’s harsher mentalities.
Themes
As the narrator drives back, his grandparents in the backseat, he frets about how they will explain the stolen car. He also takes in the scenery, realizing he does not know when he will encounter such natural beauty again. Though the narrator tries his best to comfort Grandpa, all Grandpa can do is squeeze Grandma’s hand, as if she could register that gesture.
Grandma and Grandpa are holding hands—but Grandma is too sick to take in the rare tenderness of the gesture. This image will recur towards the end of the novel, when the narrator touches hands with a client named Anthony, though both of them have too much scar tissue to actually feel anything.
Themes
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The next morning, the narrator goes to check out. He is disappointed to find that the attractive front desk girl seems to care more about Jesus than about flirting with him. When the narrator returns to his room, Grandpa is devastated—Grandma’s day of clarity is done, and she has soiled herself. Dejected, Grandpa and the narrator decide to head back to the city.
The dual disappointments of the narrator and his grandfather are made all the more crushing by their peaceful, idyllic picnic yesterday. The difference between Dad and Grandpa is also striking here: Dad wants to find safety with or without his wife, but Grandpa will not even consider leaving Grandma behind.
Themes
Grandma is driving fast through the suburbs, all of which were abandoned when people were forced to choose between “urban” and “rural.” Halfway through the drive, Grandma asks Grandpa to drive instead. Grandpa is nervous, but Grandma points out that they’ve already broken laws—plus, they’ve got a “real live criminal in the backseat” (the narrator). Grandpa takes the wheel, but as soon as he starts driving, a car full of rural teenagers pulls up and starts pelting Grandpa and his family with apples.
More information about this new national set-up comes out: before the Barricades went up, citizens were given the option to choose where they wanted to live, with the knowledge that they would lose access to the other areas. Tensions linger between urban and rural residents, as can be seen in the apple incident. Interestingly, this divide reflects (and exaggerates) some of the fault-lines in contemporary U.S. politics, which are largely divided along urban and rural lines.
Themes
The narrator is upset, but Grandma insists that he needs to finish college; though Grandma and Grandpa are sure Cate will understand, the narrator is not convinced. Grandpa is so overjoyed at the idea of this new plan that the narrator eventually relents, but he remains concerned that Grandma and Grandpa won’t fit into this rural slice of life, especially since they are not Christian.
Though the narrator now seems to spend more time with Cate than he does with Dad, she remains a figure of stress and opposition. Importantly, another detail of the political landscape comes to the fore here: the rural areas, in addition to being conservative, are also by and large Christian (perhaps a nod towards the evangelical conservatism popular in much of the rural U.S. at the time of writing).
Themes
Years later, Grandma is heavily medicated, and Grandpa has just had his driver’s license revoked due to reckless driving. Cate has sent the narrator to his grandparents’ house for the summer, in the hopes that they will keep him out of legal trouble. After all, the narrator was just arrested for petty theft, resulting in all of his “allotment coupons” being docked.
Though the novel does not provide any explicit connective tissue between this chapter and the previous one, two shifts are immediately clear. First, the narrator is now a petty criminal, in stark contrast to the rule-abiding boy he was at the beginning of the book. And second, the mention of allotment coupons suggests that food shortage is now a reality—instead of merely the stuff of Dad’s nightmares.
Themes
Eventually, the three find their way into a red Zeus, a giant RV with a full tank of gas. Elated, the grandparents drive a little way down the road, while the narrator plans to meet them in their original car. However, before the narrator can get back to his grandparents’ tiny car, a trucker starts shooting at its front widow. A crowd gathers to watch as Grandpa and Grandma return; livid, Grandpa starts cursing at the onlookers.
Something about this crime spree—whether it is a return to the lush countryside or a newfound lack of responsibility to others—has awakened a second youth in Grandma and Grandpa. The default to violence again proves that this society is politically fractured to the point of dystopia.
Themes
Grandma decides that she wants to drive out to the country, even though the narrator explains that there is a Barricade. When Grandma reveals that she knows all about the Barricade (and the checkpoints that maintain it), the narrator realizes that despite her inability to communicate, Grandma has heard and understood everything from the last six years.
The Barricades now come into focus as government-enforced boundaries between the city (where the narrator and his family live) and the countryside (where Grandma and Grandpa lived in the first chapter).
Themes
Grandma is insistent that they will make it to Bell’s Brook (not Keaton, after all), the idyllic town where she and Grandpa had their honeymoon. Though more and more people keep throwing fruit and bread at the car, and the narrator gets frustrated that all of the farms and factories in the rural areas do not share their wealth with the cities, Grandpa stays calm. Eventually, they arrive in Bell’s Brook and its “technicolor” greenery; it reminds the narrator of The Wizard of Oz.
Though Grandma does not share Dad’s selfish outlook or the narrator’s thieving instincts, she is not above breaking some rules for herself and her family. The greenery present in the countryside affirms that the previously-mentioned water shortages are less about climate problems and more about political tension.
Themes
Grandma and Grandpa get out and climb the hill near the car. The narrator reflects that this is the first time he has ever seen his grandparents walk away from him, and he is touched by the way they lean on each other for support. The narrator opens up Grandma’s picnic basket and realizes she has only packed books, so he goes off in search of some food. As he walks, he admires the spectacular views of rivers and fields.
Grandma and Grandpa’s tenderness stands in stark contrast to the narrator’s own parents, who seem to have already split. The fact that Grandma packed books instead of food is the first foreshadowing that perhaps her moment of mental clarity is not complete or permanent.
Themes
Grandma and Grandpa know the food is stolen, but they don’t ask questions. Instead, the three eat in silence, looking out over the reservoir and fields of corn and wheat. Suddenly, Grandma and Grandpa surprise the narrator by announcing their plan: they want him to steal water and then a car, crimes far bigger than any he has done before. But he is a “good grandson,” so he makes a plan, and they set off.
Just as the narrator’s values have already shifted since the first chapter, Grandma and Grandpa also emerge as different people: more opportunistic and less morally upright. The narrator’s comment that stealing makes him a “good grandson” is both a dry joke and an acknowledgement that these new laws have dramatically reshaped family ties.
Themes
Finally, Grandma spots the narrator hiding out, and she yells at Grandpa that “your grandson’s waiting.” Instantly, Grandpa drops his crusade so that the three can escape in the red Zeus RV. The shooting settles down as the three of them drive off, taking turns behind the wheel. After gorging themselves on peaches, they turn into a small country inn.
Even as Grandpa gets caught up in the thrill of theft and a fight, he does not forget to take care of Grandma and his grandson. Like lawns, peaches are inaccessible in cities, probably because they depend on the kind of water and land resources the Barricades cut off.
Themes
First, they find some tanks of water; then, they hit the highway again, putting some distance between themselves and the scene of the crime. Grandma and Grandpa are enthralled by the rush of thieving. Because the narrator is an “opportunistic” thief as opposed to an “aggressive” one, he decides to steal a car that has been left empty by one of the vendors at the barter markets. Grandma wants to make fun of the items rural people trade with each other, which distracts her from the task at hand.
For the first time, the narrator seems conscious about striking a moral balance: he will do what he needs to in order to benefit himself, but he does not want to be “aggressive.” Grandma’s mockery suggests that the urban-rural animosity goes both ways, as she, too, feels a great deal of anger towards this other political group.
Themes
The narrator finds his way into a sprawling mansion, the back door of which has been left open. While he takes in the stockpiles of electronics and food, an old man interrupts, wondering who this intruder is. The old man has Grandma’s same spaced-out look, so the narrator pretends to be his grandson, and the old man buys it. Without causing any alarm, the narrator packs up maple syrup and sausages and oranges and leaves, delivering his haul to his real grandparents.
Throughout Grandma’s struggles with dementia, she has been protected by Cate, the narrator, and her husband. But in this moment, the novel makes clear how much bodily infirmity can be a liability in the absence of care—because this older man has no one to guard his house or sit with him, he is vulnerable to crime (and possibly to starvation).
Themes
After he exercises, the narrator steals some of his Grandpa’s pills. But just as the world is slowing into a drugged haze for the narrator, Grandma comes in—and for the first time in six years, she’s fully lucid. Grandma makes pancakes, even though the narrator has to go all over the city to find milk and an egg. Though Grandma is mad about how messy the house is, Grandpa can only tear up with joy to have his wife back. The narrator realizes just how lonely his grandfather has been.
Grandma’s insistence on making pancakes calls back to the narrator’s earlier, happier memories of New Year’s Day, when Grandma always woke everyone up with her batter-mixing. The narrator’s knowledge of Grandpa’s loneliness makes it seem that Grandma has been struggling with dementia. But more than that, Grandpa’s experience of personal loss parallels—and takes precedence over—the larger-scale losses around him, a recurring pattern throughout.
Themes
The narrator frets that there is not enough food for both him and his grandparents, but since no one does very much, they don’t burn a lot of calories. Grandpa orders water and other supplies from the internet, while the narrator admires Grandpa’s old magazines, with full-color pictures of greenery. Though there are peaches and other delicious plants beyond the Barricades, the only green in the narrator’s area are tiny (and illegal) scraps of lawn.
The narrator’s desire for pictures of greenery, combined with the reference to mysterious Barricades and the mention that lawns are now illegal, indicates that there is a water shortage in addition to the food shortage. At the same time, it is clear that there is water and food to be bought—if one can afford it. Already, then, the story demonstrates how dramatically wealth affects people’s experience of crisis.
Themes
Grandpa makes up a story and the girl at the front desk believes it enough to let them reserve a room. They order a pizza, and the narrator muses about how fresh it tastes (even if not particularly Italian). While they eat, Grandpa makes a confession: he and Grandma plan to stay in the country forever, finding or forging new IDs, while the narrator returns to the city.
The narrator’s attention to the freshness of the basil again highlights how little access those in the city have to fresh produce. As always, the novel gives equal time to a seemingly mundane experience (eating pizza) and a life-altering event (Grandpa’s confession).
Themes
