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Chapter 5
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
For once, Sylvia wishes she could forget everything, like her Mamá. Around her, students are holding and comforting each other, or talking to loved ones on the phone, while Tyler “revels” in the fear he’s caused. Seemingly oblivious to everyone around him, one boy has a loud phone conversation with his mother, until Tyler fires at the ceiling and tells everyone to get off their phones. Sylvia knows she can never hide from him.
Even though Tyler seems to be targeting the school at large, Sylvia suspects that he’s actually seeking revenge on Autumn and her. Tyler sees the community as responsible for his personal problems; his sense of community investment is dysfunctional and harmful those around him.
Themes
Claire can’t bring herself to believe that Tyler is the shooter. She wants to believe that some sort of accident happened, but Chris points out that all the evidence is against him and adds that Tyler was “never good for [Claire]” anyway. With Jonah dead, the two have to change their plan; they wordlessly start running to the nearest gas station, where there is a phone.
Chris’s comment suggests that he’s personal invested in Claire’s breakup, not just worried about the shooting. Meanwhile, Jonah’s death is another reminder that adults aren’t always able to protect students like Claire and Chris.
Themes
Claire thinks back to a moment she shared with Tyler. In the flashback, he tells her that she doesn’t have to be like Tracy; she could stay right here in Opportunity with him. He says that he won’t “let the army steal [his[ girl.” Claire feels glad that Tyler, often aggressive and angry at school, feels safe and affectionate with her. In fact, Tyler’s Dad owns the gas station she’s running towards right now, and he once offered to take Matt there after hours as a treat—but that was before the breakup.
Tyler’s remark is conventional and even seemingly romantic. However, in retrospect it suggests a disturbing desire for control and authority over Claire. Moments like this show how small instances of masculine entitlement, left unchecked, eventually build into larger crises.
Themes
Returning to her flashback, Claire asks Tyler what her dream should be, if not to follow her sister Tracy into the army. Tyler says that she should stay close to him and become a teacher. That way they could build a home together, living on one of the farms on the town’s edge. Claire marvels that he has his life figured out, and Tyler says he’s going to make sure that the world “never forgets [him].” Now, Claire knows, he’s trying to do so in the deadliest way possible.
Tyler’s plans for the future all involve the minimization of risk or change, showing how an avoidance of uncertainty can grow into a toxic need for control. By the end of the novel Claire will in fact decide to become a teacher, but she does so not from fear of the unknown but from a desire to give back to her community—a desire that Tyler notably lacks.
Themes
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Fareed opens the window in the principal’s office, but Tomás looks at the empty hallway and knows he can’t leave, not with Sylvia still in the building. Grimly, Fareed says they should be prepared to encounter the shooter; he suggests finding the janitor, Neil, and arming themselves with hammers. Anxiously they walk down the hall, wondering who could possibly be responsible for the shooting. Turning the corner, they see that the janitor’s office is wide open.
Tomás and Fareed are trying to behave bravely, but their naïve belief that they could fend off a shooter with hammers shows how young and inexperienced they really are. This is a poignant moment that contrasts the necessity of growing up with the pain of leaving childhood behind.
Themes
Tyler spitefully addresses the school from the stage, saying that he once liked Opportunity High and wanted to fit in, but instead he “lost everything.” Autumn feels sick hearing his words and continues pulling Sylvia towards the door; she doesn’t want to get caught in a crush of students if it opens. She remembers that her father used to admire Tyler’s “hunter’s grace.” Students scramble to stay out of his path while he accuses them of having “perfect lives” and not knowing what “losing feels like.” Menacingly, he says that if the students cooperate, “some” of them will go home safely.
Tyler’s speech indicates severe narcissism: the things he believes he’s “lost,” like control over his sister, are things to which he’s never been entitled. He also displays a marked lack of empathy; dismissing everyone around him as enjoying “perfect lives,” he ignores the fact that everyone is dealing with issues that are as valid as his own. His words here underscore the broader social context that has led to Tyler’s decision to turn to violence, as well as his twisted interpretation of that context.
Themes
Matt texts Claire for help, telling her that he is scared and trapped in the auditorium.
Matt’s trust in Claire mirrors her faith in the adults around her—but just as the adults necessarily fail Claire, Claire can’t do anything to save Matt right now.
Themes
