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Great Expectations
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in When Will There Be Good News?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past
Appearances vs. Reality
Lies and Deceptions
Family
Summary
Analysis
On her doorstep on Christmas Eve, Louise discovers a Border Collie puppy in a wicker basket. The gift tag reads, “A Faithful Friend.” Louise doesn’t know if that refers to the puppy or to the sender. Someone had rung the doorbell and left by the time the door opened. Louise is sure it was Jackson.
The appearance of a Border Collie puppy, a breed known for its herding abilities, clearly seems to be a message from Jackson, who’s always thought of himself as a sheepdog, and Louise as responsive to his shepherding instincts.
Themes
On Christmas Day, Louise visits the Needlers. She refuses to drink vodka with Alison Needler. Alison hints that Louise is pregnant, which Louise laughingly denies, but she is. She’d even made an appointment for an abortion but couldn’t go through with it—“the door in her heart had been wedged open and she couldn’t shut it, no matter how hard she pushed against it.”
There have been hints at Louise’s pregnancy throughout the story, as well as evidence of her fear at the idea of having another child. Ultimately, she discovers that she does love her child—that perhaps she isn’t as coldhearted and nonmaternal as she’s believed herself to be.
Themes
Louise plans to leave Patrick at Hogmanay (the Scots new year celebration). She figures it would be too cruel at Christmas; he’d already lost one wife then. He’s a good man, so she figures he’ll have no trouble finding another wife; it’s a shame she’s “such a bad woman.”
Despite Louise’s newfound love for her unborn child, she hasn’t fundamentally revised her view of herself as a “bad woman” who’s incapable of being a good wife for a man like Patrick.
Themes
Louise hasn’t made any headway interviewing Joanna. She supposes she could find some forensic evidence somewhere if she wanted to. Even Neil has recanted his whole story about extortion. The only evidence is two bodies in the burned-out house in Penicuik; the burning of the evidence looked professional. Meanwhile, Marcus had been taken off life support after a week and had a hero’s funeral. His mother had jumped off a bridge the next day.
Louise still has many questions about Joanna’s situation; yet, perhaps because of Marcus’s untimely death, or perhaps because of Joanna’s stubbornness under questioning, Louise no longer has the heart to press the issue.
Themes
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Louise wants to know why Joanna visited Decker in prison. Louise points out that Joanna knows how to shoot a gun. Joanna denies having pulled the trigger, but Louise thinks that, somehow, she persuaded Decker to do it himself. Joanna suggests that perhaps seeing her and the baby brought the gravity of his crime home to him. Louise thinks this rational explanation befits a doctor, but she suspects there’s more to it. She thinks that if she were ever in trouble, she’d certainly want Joanna on her side.
Louise realizes she’s never going to fully understand what happened between Joanna and Decker. She knows there’s more to Joanna’s rational, professional exterior than meets the eye, but she also admires Joanna’s sense of mystery, and after all this, she can’t bring herself to push beyond it. She just knows that Joanna is a force to be reckoned with.
Themes
Louise tells the Needler children she’ll bring her new puppy to visit them when he’s a bit bigger. When they ask what she’s named the puppy, she says, “Jackson.”
Louise named her own sheepdog after the implied giver, suggesting that Jackson will always be a part of her life.
Themes
