Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Anxious People, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Parenting and Fear
Marriage, Conflict, and Communication
Mental Health and Connection
The Modern World
Assumptions
Summary
Analysis
The robber says she’ll get the door, but Roger and Ro protest. Roger offers to get the door and Julia says this is a great idea: the police will assume a man tried to rob the bank. Lennart offers to open the door, since he’s an actor. Roger and Lennart argue over who will go to the door, and Lennart tells Roger to be angry with him, not with Anna-Lena. Anna-Lena begs Roger to let Lennart get the door, and Roger agrees.
It's humorous that Roger and Lennart fight over who’s going to get the door, but this also highlights that everyone in the apartment—including Roger, one of the most skeptical people there—is willing to help the robber now. They see her as a fellow person who made a mistake, and they don’t want to see her suffer needlessly for it.
Themes
Just then, the robber apologizes to Estelle: she remembers that Knut was parking the car, and he must be worried. Estelle says Knut is dead and has been gone a while. She explains that she said he was parking the car because she gets lonely, especially this time of year. She and Knut used to love watching fireworks off the balcony at New Year. Zara spoils the mood by noting that most people commit suicide on New Year’s, not Christmas. With this, Roger, Lennart, and the robber exchange looks. The apartment door opens, and Jim is outside. He goes back downstairs later and tells Jack he spoke with the robber.
After connecting with Julia and Anna-Lena in the closet, Estelle is now willing to come clean about the fact that she’s very lonely. As she mentions how much she and Knut used to love watching fireworks together, it suggests that the robber’s choice to demand fireworks later might have to do with Estelle. Zara’s mention of the most popular times for people to attempt suicide brings the mood down, but it also makes it clear that unhappiness exists all the time—even at otherwise happy times of the year.
Themes
