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Chapter 18
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
Autumn sits with Matt leaning against her, the position that seems most comfortable for him. The auditorium is quiet and fairly calm as students wait for the police to arrive. Not seeming to understand how serious his wounds are, Matt says that he knew Claire was waiting for him outside and would never desert him. Rambling, he asks Autumn if she thinks it will ever snow in Alabama. His older sister once saw snow when she was in elementary school, but he never has. In fact, Autumn remembers making snow angels in the yard with her mother that day.
Matt’s speech emphasizes his confidence in his older sisters, showing the centrality of positive sibling relationships in his life. This could be distressing to Autumn, whose relationship with her brother is marked by abuse and destruction. However, because she’s able to empathize with others rather than focusing only on her own needs like Tyler does, Matt’s rambling actually gives her strength.
Themes
Autumn confesses that she too relies on her brother a lot, especially since her mother died. Matt says quietly that she shouldn’t blame herself for Tyler’s actions, just as Claire shouldn’t worry too much about him and Tracy. Autumn is touched, but she’s also worried that Matt’s voice is getting weaker and weaker. He tells her that he’s getting tired.
Matt’s comforting words remind Autumn that although her life has been indelibly marked by her abusive family, she can takes steps to extricate herself from them, rather than enduring and eventually perpetuating abuse as Tyler has done.
Themes
Tomás has never been more frustrated at the school policy that demands doors stay locked between classes. Finally they stumble upon a classroom whose door handle Tomás broke in a prank last year. Tomás drags Sylvia inside, but he’s still worried that Tyler could sneak up on him in silence. Sylvia asks him if she thinks they could have stopped Tyler, and Tomás reassures her that it wasn’t her fault. Moving quickly, he opens the window and looks out onto the roof. Quietly, Sylvia admits that she “could have had [Tyler] arrested.” Tomás turns on his sister and demands to know what Tyler did to her.
Here, Sylvia is closer than ever before to unburdening herself to Tomás. His anger is well-intentioned, springing from a desire to protect his sister, but his outburst mostly shows anger at Tyler and eagerness to achieve revenge, rather than a desire to truly engage with his sister and address her trauma. Ultimately, he seems more concerned with his grievance against Tyler than with his sister’s experience.
Themes
Outside the school, everyone grows quiet as the SWAT teams prepare to enter. The police won’t be able to treat the injured until they find Tyler, but this is a step in the right direction. Claire hopes that Matt will manage to walk out of the school, even if he’s feeling ill and tired. She remembers Matt’s last birthday, when he and Chris pretended to fight with the crutches he had to use because of his Lupus.
Claire’s hopes for Matt’s safety reveal her ignorance of his true condition. By deceiving her about his injuries, Matt has shown his love for Claire and desire to safeguard her, but by keeping the truth from her, he’s actually pushing her away.
Themes
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In the flashback, Claire and her mother set the table and Mrs. Morgan confides that Matt is having liver problems again, and may have to be hospitalized. Claire’s mother is confiding in her more and more, especially since her father is working long hours to pay for Matt’s treatments. They both disguise their worries during the birthday celebration, sharing dinner and a Star Wars cake. Claire wants to savor this picture of her family, rather than the worries about money and illness that have formed so much of their life.
Even though Claire’s family life often seems picture-perfect, this flashback reveals their struggles and the way that Claire has already had to grapple with some adult responsibilities. By engaging so deeply with the four different narrators, the novel allows the reader to enter into and appreciate their individual problems—an ability that Tyler, who can only focus on himself, notably lacks.
Themes
Over the phone, Claire hears Autumn telling Matt that the SWAT teams are finally inside. In relief, Claire turns and kisses Chris, who responds enthusiastically. She begs him never to leave her, and he promises he won’t.
Claire’s romantic relationship with Chris shows how open communication and mutual support can lead to genuine connection—a sharp contrast to the manipulative relationship she had with Tyler.
Themes
Again, Tomás asks his sister what Tyler did to her. In a flashback, Sylvia remembers their previous closeness as children, when they used to sneak out of bed at night to roam the farm and the woods. One night Sylvia even fell off the garage roof and sprained her wrist, but Tomás snuck into the house to get her ice and snacks without even getting caught. In the present, Sylvia realizes that she’s hiding the truth about her rape because she doesn’t want Tomás to feel guilty for not protecting her. Tearfully, she turns away and says that Tyler did nothing.
Sylvia has decided that Tomás’s potential feelings of guilt are more important than her evident need to talk about her trauma. Tomás thinks Sylvia needs protection, especially because of her physical vulnerability to Tyler’s abuse, but emotionally speaking, it’s more often she who protects him. Their dynamic here also shows how societal attitudes of silence around abuse can protect people like Tyler, who may go on to perpetuate even worse violence.
Themes
Writing on her blog from outside the school, Mei says that she’s never seen so many community members in one place. Everyone is supporting each other while watching the students who run out of the school in small groups, waiting desperately for loved ones to turn up safe.
The shooting has exposed previously undetected cracks in the community’s serenity, yet by forcing parents and virtual strangers to come together, it’s also reminding Opportunity of its core communal values.
Themes
