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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in This Is Where It Ends, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gun Violence
Community and Tragedy
Family and Sibling Relationships
Change, Uncertainty, and Growing Up
Abuse
Summary
Analysis
A few rows down, Tomás spots the captain of the cheer squad, whom he’s long had a crush on even though she’s never noticed him. Filled with adrenaline, he knows now is his chance to make a move, even if he never gets another. Sneaking up behind her, he puts on a charming smile and tells her the doors are open, asking if she “wants to go out.” She’s startled, but when she realizes what’s happening she gathers the other cheerleaders and starts crawling away. Tomás is disappointed that she doesn’t even acknowledge him, but as she passes by she squeezes his shoulder and mouths a thank-you. Tomás is pleased that when he finally asks her out, she’ll know who he is.
Tomás’s penchant for wordplay even in the midst of a crisis shows his confidence and his refusal to take himself completely seriously; in this sense he’s a contrast to Tyler, whose inability to put his own grievances in perspective has led him to perpetrate violence. Tomás seems full of life both in his actions and his conviction that he has plenty of time ahead to ask out the cheerleader—this moment emerges as a poignant testimony to the life he could have had, if he had emerged from the shooting safely.
Themes
Fareed is now standing by the door helping people exit, not seeming to care that he’s made himself a target. Other students are helping the wounded to walk, but the front rows are still full of dead bodies. Sylvia knows she could turn away, but she can’t leave Autumn alone with Tyler. As she moves, she thinks of Autumn’s hand touching her own, Tyler’s hand pushing her down in the grass, and Tomás coming back to save her, despite their strained relationship. She knows that the only two people that matter right now are “the boy who broke me and the girl who put me back together.”
Even though others have seen him as an outsider, Fareed takes on the responsibility of leadership when no one else can bear it—suggesting that communities work best when they acknowledge the potential of “outsiders,” rather than fearing or marginalizing them. For her part, Sylvia is thinking not of the community but of the personal relationships—both fulfilling and abusive—that have defined her and helped her grow into the person she is.
Themes
Autumn waits for Tyler to shoot and kill her, feeling totally blank. But he continues to talk, saying that while he thought Autumn shared his feelings of loneliness, actually she’s betrayed him for “that slut,” Sylvia. Taking courage, Autumn says that he can blame her for a lot of things, but she’ll never regret her relationship with Sylvia. She raises her voice as she tells Tyler how much she loves Sylvia, hoping that her girlfriend will hear the things she’s never said before. She expects that her brother will shoot her, but instead he turns around to face the auditorium.
Tyler’s use of a slur and characterization of Autumn’s relationship as shameful demonstrates his homophobia. Tyler picks on people with marginalized identities in order to make himself feel less like an outsider, but as Autumn’s declaration shows, love is a much better way to alleviate loneliness than hatred.
Themes
Speaking to Claire, the officer says that they’re trying to build a picture of Tyler’s motivations. Chris explains that Tyler has a younger sister, Autumn, and that everyone knows the Brownes, who own a store on Main Street. At first Claire can’t speak, but eventually she admits that she used to date Tyler, who made her laugh and “feel like [she] mattered.” In a flashback she remembers a day when Tyler picked her up from JROTC drill and gave her a present: a package of vintage pewter figurines for Matt to play with.
Like Autumn, Claire has positive memories of Tyler that make her ambivalent about his overall character. The girls’ portrayal of him argues that it’s foolish to dismiss gun violence as perpetrated by obviously evil people. Rather, mass shooters are often seemingly ordinary men who behave kindly in some situations.
Themes
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However, Claire says, Tyler’s behavior completely changed after his mother’s death and he became withdrawn and brooding. The officer asks if he was ever “angry or violent,” or if Claire has any insight into his motivations. She responds that Tyler never fit in at school and often fought with other students. While he never explicitly expressed a desire for revenge, he did tell her often that “he’d show the world.” Claire is offended when the officer asks if he ever discussed his plans with her or told her that he was going to commit a crime.
Even though Claire was unhappy about Tyler’s growing anger, she clearly didn’t know who to talk to or how to raise the alarm. Because their society accepts and even endorses masculine aggression, it’s hard for people like Claire to prevent these harmful behaviors from spiraling into major crimes.
Themes
Claire tells the officer that she hasn’t had much contact with Tyler since they broke up. She only saw him when she went to his store, where he worked long hours due to his Dad’s escalating drinking habits. She’s seen him with strange bruises and believes that his father hit him. The officer tells her to stick around in case someone wants to interview her further; Claire says that she needs to do something to help her brother who is inside, but the officer again rejects her offer. Receiving a message on his radio, the officer runs back toward the school; even though they’ve been told to stay away, Claire and Chris follow.
Claire’s account of the strange bruises makes clear that, even though he perpetrates most of the violence in the novel, Tyler himself is also a victim of abuse. That Tyler is perpetuating a pattern of behavior he learned from his father suggests that one way to combat mass violence is to address subtler forms of abuse that are present in everyday society.
Themes
Matt texts Claire again, telling her that he “hurts” and wondering why she hasn’t called him.
This first hint of Matt’s injury highlights the literal distance between brother and sister, just when he needs her most. Again, Claire is no longer there to play the protective role that she has throughout Matt’s life.
Themes
