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Chapter 7
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
Tomás can hear shots from the auditorium, and he desperately wants to get inside. Fareed reminds him that they need to open the school doors first to make an emergency exit. Handing him a bolt cutter, Tomás tells him to do what he can and turns toward the auditorium, hoping to pick the lock. In every hallway he expects to see students milling around as usual. When he arrives at the locked doors, “the very core of Opportunity High,” he checks to make sure the coast is clear.
Tomás’s fantasy that he’ll find school life proceeding as usual shows how hard it is for him to understand that the routine he took for granted has been so brutally interrupted. His description of the auditorium as the “core” of Opportunity High also highlights how the importance of this location to the community contrasts with the fact that it’s now the site of a brutal assault on that community.
Themes
Hearing indistinct speaking from inside, Tomás edges toward one of the locked doors and carefully takes his paper clips to the locks. Grimly, he imagines what Principal Trenton would say to him flouting the rules now.
Tomás has transitioned from breaking rules in order to flout community standards to doing so in order to protect that very community.
Themes
Sylvia has always been seen as the strong one in her family, the best at caring for her sick Mamá. Right now, she feels weak and wishes that Tomás was here to take care of her, but she’s also glad that her brother is safe and outside the auditorium. She sits with her back against the wall as Tyler announces that he’s thirsty and demands someone give him a drink.
Sylvia’s selfless gratitude for her brother’s safety underlines her love for him, even though their relationship is currently strained. She’s a marked contrast to Tyler, who only thinks of other people in terms of what they can do for him.
Themes
When no one volunteers, Tyler points at Kevin Rolland, who once won a history class debate over gay rights in which Tyler argued that “outsiders like Kevin had no place in Opportunity.” Everyone in the class sided with Kevin for standing up to Tyler’s bullying, and at lunch one of his friends spilled soda on Tyler, setting off a chain of pranks and confrontations that culminated in Tyler dropping out of school. When Kevin can’t produce a water bottle, Tyler shoots him. Sylvia thinks it’s scarier to watch Tyler carefully pick his targets than to see him murder people randomly.
Tyler’s chilling behavior shows that he’s not just engaged in a random rampage but rather targeting people against whom he holds specific grievances. Tyler’s attempt to define Kevin as an “outsider” due to his sexual orientation shows that while towns and schools can be sources of strength and support, the idea of community can also be mobilized for exclusion and bigotry.
Themes
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Sylvia looks at Autumn, who she knows would “do anything for Tyler.” She wants to hug her girlfriend, feeling that it’s useless to care about what other people think about their relationship at a time like this. Looking at the ray of light coming through the door, she seems to see someone outside, and wonders if Tyler has an accomplice somewhere.
Sylvia’s remark here is an acknowledgment that Autumn loves Tyler as she herself loves Tomás, despite Tyler’s evil behavior. Autumn’s love is a reminder that Tyler is not an easily dismissed stock villain, but rather a human whose personal crimes are indicative of larger human issues.
Themes
Chris reveals that he’s always thought Claire was perfect; he commends her for being quick to take command when everyone else is shocked by a crisis. Claire looks ahead at the familiar horizon and admits that Tyler wasn’t just “angry,” he was also “vindictive;” for example, after getting in a fight with Tomás, he tried to corner Sylvia at a dance and kiss her in revenge. Claire stumbled upon him in the act, just as he was telling Sylvia that she needed to “learn some manners.”
Claire’s understanding of the facts is slightly faulty: Tyler targets Sylvia because of her relationship with Autumn, not her proximity to Tomás. Still, she’s correct in pointing out that rather than confronting the challenges in his life, Tyler takes out his anger on people who are not responsible for them at all.
Themes
In fact, this incident is what sparked Claire and Tyler’s breakup. Thinking back on that night, Claire sees a new, “feral” side of her boyfriend; when she asks him why he would cheat on her, he starts ranting that “this town is taking everything away from me.” Claire reminds him coldly that neither she nor Sylvia is involved in his fights with Tomás. Seeing how angry she is, he begs her not to leave him, but she just walks away.
Tyler’s rage against the town is a continued disavowal of his responsibility for his own life. His desperate plea for Claire to stay with him is a reminder that he craves support and companionship just like the four narrators—but he goes about achieving it in an incredibly destructive way.
Themes
Chris reminds her that everyone is “more than their mistakes” and Claire squeezes his hand. They continue to run in sync towards the gas station.
Chris’s ability to understand individual nuance contrasts with Tyler’s immediate dismissal of every person who doesn’t fall in line with his desires.
Themes
Seeing Sylvia backed against the door, Autumn hates to think that her tough girlfriend is breaking down under her own brother’s actions. She whispers that they have to lie low and hope the police get here soon. On stage, Tyler rants that he’s lost everyone, from his family to his girlfriend Claire, to the opinion of his town. Now, he’s reclaiming the community for himself.
It’s obvious that the “community” Tyler envisions isn’t actually a community; it’s just an extension of his destructive authority to those around him. Meanwhile Sylvia’s inner strength, as pointed out by Autumn, contrasts with the strength Tyler can only possess while holding a gun.
Themes
Autumn wonders where Tyler got the gun and remembers seeing him hunt with her Dad, “laughing together like they never laughed with [Autumn].” She wishes she could go back to the days when Tyler took care of her. She releases Sylvia and crawls toward the stage, hoping that if he finds her he won’t be able to hurt her girlfriend as well.
Tyler gets not only his physical gun but his guiding principles from his father, who models aggression and teaches him to exclude and suppress women with the men-only outings Autumn remembers. Moments like this emphasize that Tyler’s crimes stem from a socially pervasive culture of male entitlement and unchecked aggression.
Themes
In a flashback, Autumn recalls Tyler accosting her after finding her Julliard audition invitation. He threatens to tell their Dad but then condescendingly promises to keep her secrets. Autumn is perplexed by this sudden interest in her life; since Claire broke up with him and he dropped out of school, he’s been working in their father’s shop and ignoring her. Now he tells her that she should leave Opportunity and her girlfriend behind. She knows that he’s bluffing and hoping she’ll stay for him, but she just tells him: “The sooner I can get out, the better.”
Although Autumn originally characterized Tyler as an unfailing source of support, now it appears that he only pays attention to her when it suits him—or when he no longer has a girlfriend to support him. While it’s obvious that Tyler needs family and companionship, he’s going about obtaining these things in an extremely destructive way.
Themes
In the auditorium, Tyler says that the community has “corrupted” his own family into abandoning him. Addressing Autumn by name, he calls for his sister to come forward and confront him.
Here, Tyler conflates the community’s duty to him with his own duty to support and protect his own family members.
Themes
CJ tweets that she’s trying to be brave but is so afraid. Her cousins and friends outside the school reply that their thoughts are with her. A reporter tweets at CJ, asking if he can interview her about the situation inside the school.
That CJ could theoretically give an interview while the shooting is happening shows that she is both deeply entrenched in and, at this moment, alienated from her community.
Themes
