Previous
Chapter 15
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
Tyler laughs angrily when he sees students escaping through the doors, saying that he won’t let them go. He starts shooting at the ceiling and walls as students and teachers start running to get out; while many make it into the hallway, the auditorium descends into chaos. Tomás looks around for Sylvia, who is standing too close to Tyler. Thinking about the possibility of the shooter hurting his sister again, he’s full of rage. Suddenly, Sylvia darts onto the stage to help the injured Autumn and confront Tyler. Tomás wants to do something, but Fareed pulls him out of the auditorium, saying that by distracting Tyler she’s given them a chance. Just then, a bullet hits and kills a freshman right in front of them.
The random death of a freshman in front of them points out that Tomás and Fareed are surviving the crisis not because of any special abilities on their part, but through pure luck. Framing the shooting as a conflict between evil Tyler and the heroic students who fight him undermines the novel’s depiction of gun violence as horrifyingly meaningless; moments like this help remind readers that ultimately, personal heroism isn’t an effective way to combat gun violence.
Themes
To Claire, the area outside the school looks like a “war zone,” full of police and parents who become ever more concerned as gunshots ring out from the school. Even more disturbingly, news crews are beginning to set up shop and report on the situation. Claire and Chris resent being turned into a sensational story on the news. Among the parents frantically demanding answers from the police, Claire thinks she sees her father, but it turns out she’s mistaken. She doesn’t want him to be here and see that she made it out of the school without Matt.
Claire and Chris don’t appreciate that the news crews are performing an essential function, in that the larger community relies on them for information. Yet it’s also easy to see how the reporters might be selfishly looking for a “scoop” rather than honoring the victims’ trauma—showing how a community can fail individual members even as it tries to support the group as a whole.
Themes
Claire feels that something is changing between her and Chris, and she begs him to tell her what’s wrong. He’s been her best friend for so long, and she needs to stay close with him. Chris admits that he’s “terrified” of losing her. Suddenly, they see students running out of the school’s front doors.
Interestingly, Chris’s deepest fears mirror Tyler’s— he dreads the unraveling of his closest relationship just as Tyler fears losing Autumn. However, Chris addressees these anxieties by being open and honest with Claire, rather than abusing her.
Themes
Autumn wants to think that the worst is over, but Tyler continues to fire on the students and shows her that’s far from true. She crawls away from him as fast as possible, knowing that she needs to get to Sylvia before Tyler does, if only to tell her how much she loves her. She passes an injured girl, who squeezes her hand, and then she reaches Matt, whom she vaguely knows as the younger brother of Tyler’s ex-girlfriend. She approaches him, bracing for disgust and anger, but he seems relieved when she promises to take care of him and strokes his hair. Autumn looks over the chairs and, to her horror, sees that Sylvia is bravely walking towards Tyler as he reloads his gun.
Both Autumn and Sylvia used to feel that the best way to maintain the equilibrium of their relationship was to avoid sharing their deepest feelings with each other—but after facing down Tyler, they both come to the more mature understanding that their bond is strong enough to withstand any confession. Additionally, Matt’s implicit trust in Autumn hints at the possibility that the community might heal, even after a terrible tragedy like this one.
Themes
Get the entire This Is Where It Ends LitChart as a printable PDF.
Sylvia is bolstered by Autumn’s declaration of love for her in front of Tyler. Approaching him, she quietly says that she understands how it feels to be overwhelmed by grief, unsure how to go on. She thinks about the approaching loss of her Mamá, and perhaps of Autumn as well. She tells Tyler that he can take out his desire for revenge on her, but he should know he’s not alone. Tyler shoots at someone behind her and insists that he is, in fact, alone. Taking her chances, Sylvia turns around and runs up the aisle, and Tomás yanks her out of the auditorium as soon as she reaches the door.
Sylvia has always been notable for her empathy—for example, whenever she is personally in danger she thinks of the other people who are important to her. Now, that empathy contrasts with Tyler’s narcissism: he can’t accept that other people have problems as important as his own, even if doing so would make him feel less alone.
Themes
Outside the room, Sylvia can hear bullets thudding against the walls. She hugs Tomás fiercely, unsure if she’s mad at him for interfering or grateful that he saved her. Both siblings confess that they’ve missed each other in the past months, but they keep hearing gunshots from the inside so they run up the stairs, trying to get as far away as possible before Tyler leaves the auditorium.
Sylvia and Tomás’s joyful reunion contrasts with Tyler and Autumn’s bitter confrontation. They’re able to reconcile because both siblings admit to having made mistakes, while Tyler’s inability to admit his own failings catalyzes his crimes and the demise of his relationship with his sister.
Themes
In fury, CJ tweets that she would kill Tyler if she had a gun. Other people respond that help is on the way, while an anonymous user chides her for her anger, saying that shooting Tyler would make her just as bad as him.
Of course, CJ is in no position to follow through on this threat, and may not even mean it literally. However, her endorsement of vigilante justice points out how one breach of communal norms can easily lead to others.
Themes
