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 ice covering the bridge sparkles. Zara almost looks like she’s ready to jump, but anyone who knows her and what she’s gone through recently knows she won’t. Then, “she lets go.” The wind catches the paper, and finally, Zara’s fingers can stop struggling to hold that letter. Ten years ago, the man wrote everything he wanted Zara to know. His letter was only four words, but they’re “the four biggest little words” someone can say to another person: “It wasn’t your fault.” Zara is walking away before the letter hits the water. She climbs into Lennart’s car, and he lets her play the music loud. Zara plans to try to get tired of him.
Though Zara has felt responsible for the man’s death for a decade, it’s worth noting that it’s nobody else’s fault when someone chooses to die by suicide. By dropping the letter off the bridge, Zara symbolically lets go of this burden. It’s also significant that she then gets into Lennart’s car—she’s willing now to connect with others.
Themes
