Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Elatsoe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Friendship
Justice
Cultural Identity and Coming of Age
Colonialism and Monsters
Death, Grief, and Healing
Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
Ellie is sure Trevor killed the man, who must be an exorcist. She, Jay, Al, Lily, and four other vampires decide not to take the man’s gun—bullets don’t work on the dead, anyway—and head upstairs. Kirby whines as they reach a corridor filled with mangled bodies. Ellie tells Trevor he didn’t have to kill people, but she refuses to say if she’s an enemy or an ally. She asks if he’ll let them go home, and speaking through the walkie-talkies, Trevor tells Ellie to cross the hallway. Ellie sends the vampires through the hallway first. She tries to send Jay next, but an invisible hand grabs him and drags him to Al, slamming the door behind him.
The novel associates guns with settler culture—while ghosts are something entirely different. In this situation, even one of the deadliest weapons cannot vanquish something as dangerous as a ghost. From the way that Ellie speaks to Trevor’s ghost, it’s clear that she’s becoming more comfortable with the idea that this isn’t her cousin: this is a ghost, and she can’t trust him.
Themes
Alone now, Ellie calls Kirby to her and closes her eyes. The corpses begin to flop, and Ellie opens her eyes to the exorcist’s body, which Trevor is using. Trevor agrees that he’s not Ellie’s cousin anymore: he’s “an emissary of a murdered man, unleashed to right a terrible wrong.” The emissary says he’s going to get justice for Trevor—and if Ellie wants to die, she’ll “interfere with [the emissary’s] vengeance.” He insists to Ellie that in this case, justice and vengeance are the same thing, and he wants to murder everyone in Willowbee. He continues that Willowbee “puts a bounty on the Indigenous, the poor, and the vulnerable,” causing them to suffer to heal the rich. The emissary wants to make them feel powerless.
Trevor’s ghost confirms that he and Trevor are essentially two different people, and the ghost is focused on only one thing: revenge. While justice for Trevor is something Ellie wants and can support, revenge—especially when it entails murdering hundreds of seemingly innocent people—goes a step too far for Ellie. She remains committed to the idea that murdering people isn’t okay, even if they’ve “put[] a bounty” on other disadvantaged people themselves.
Themes
When Ellie points out that Trevor taught some of the children at this party, the emissary screams, cuts the lights, and begins to prick Ellie’s skin with glass shards. He asks Ellie to try calling all the emissaries like him, who are trapped between here and the underworld, but Ellie refuses to help. As glass cuts her, she commands Kirby to howl, which protects her from the glass as she runs for the door, finding Al and Jay on the other side. The door leads outdoors, and Ellie looks up at stars: they were stuck in time in the house, and it’s actually now 8:00 p.m. The masquerade has started, and everyone in the ballroom is in danger.
Trevor’s ghost is totally unwilling to let Ellie try to talk him into being empathetic and understanding. He’s not Trevor, so he doesn’t actually care about Trevor’s former students at the party. Kirby rises to the occasion here, reminding Ellie both that her support network is big and diverse and that she doesn’t have to resort to violence to protect herself (Kirby’s howl causes pain, but it’s not going to kill anyone).
Themes
Ellie leads Jay and Al to the mansion’s front door, which is locked. They enter through an upstairs balcony. Inside, they encounter a drunk woman who thinks they’re joking when they ask if everyone is still alive. She is, however, able to point them in the direction of the room where Vivian likely still is, so Al goes to find Vivian while Jay and Ellie enter the ballroom. Ellie tries to call Vivian, and to her surprise, Vivian picks up. Ellie’s able to tell her mom what the emissary is planning and that it’s already nighttime, but then the call drops.
Once again, Ellie calls her mom because of the close, trusting, and supportive relationship they have—Ellie knows her mom will have useful advice and insight on how to tackle this particular situation. However, Trevor’s ghost forces Ellie and Jay to act on their own, without any adult support—forcing them into growing up and becoming more independent.
Themes
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Just then, Dr. Allerton takes the stage to announce who’s winning the prize trip to Hawaii. However, the piano plays an ominous scale—and then every piano key slams down at once. Ellie shouts for everyone to evacuate, but nobody takes Ellie seriously. As everyone is staring at her, the piano flies up and heads for the crowd.
While Mom and other adults in Ellie’s life take her seriously, none of these strangers do. By contrast, this reminds readers how supportive Ellie’s relationships with her family are.
Themes
