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
Back in the ballroom, people heave the piano aside to reveal Trevor, bruised and bleeding like he was on the night he died. Ellie watches Dr. Allerton’s face as the emissary promises vengeance, and then she accuses Dr. Allerton of murder in a shout. Dr. Allerton, however, calls for his exorcists and tells everyone to stay calm. Rotting hands grab Dr. Allerton’s ankles, and the emissary’s voice explains how Dr. Allerton murdered Trevor—and it asks who’s going to sacrifice their life for Dr. Allerton’s tonight. An invisible force drags Brett Allerton forward as a dozen exorcists step forward. Ellie wants to warn Trevor, but she reminds herself that Trevor and the emissary aren’t the same—and Brett is terrified and deserves to live.
Ellie knows that she’s on Trevor’s side, wants him to get justice, and wants to see Dr. Allerton suffer. But she also realizes with certainty here that Trevor’s ghost isn’t Trevor, and he isn’t going to get Trevor justice, especially if he’s okay with murdering one of Trevor’s former students. It’s an interesting detail that nobody in the room seems particularly worried about what’s going on, which suggests they’re accustomed to seeing magic, at the very least—and perhaps know what Dr. Allerton is capable of.
Themes
Dr. Allerton says that everyone in Willowbee knows who and what he is. They all know why it was necessary for Trevor to die, as Willowbee itself will die if Dr. Allerton does. Ellie is distracted as the emissary begins to make fragments of glass and small items swirl through the air. As the emissary taunts the exorcists, Ellie whispers to Jay that she can help once the exorcists act. Just then, voices come from everyone’s phones, begging for mercy or screaming. As the exorcists descend on the emissary, the junk in the air explodes like a bomb. Kirby protects Ellie and Jay and howls when Ellie commands him to. The emissary calls Ellie a traitor and makes everyone float, just as an exorcist slaps it with a bloody palm. Ellie falls as a giant hand drags Trevor through the floor. He asks “Why?” as he goes.
Dr. Allerton confirms that everyone in Willowbee knows what he does and is okay with it. This implicates all of Willowbee—everyone is complicit in not just Trevor’s death, but all the other hurt or killed Native and disadvantaged people who have been forced to give their lives and bodies to Willowbee’s cause. Still, Ellie remains convinced that it’s not appropriate to let the emissary murder everyone, and so for now, she’s willing to work with the exorcists to send Trevor’s ghost back to the underworld. His sad “why” as he goes highlights the immense pain and trauma he and his family have experienced since his death—pain that has led to the violence he tried to inflict on others.
Themes
Ellie and Jay pull themselves up as Dr. Allerton and Willowbee’s residents limp toward them. There’s a wood sliver stuck in Dr. Allerton’s chest, and as he shakes hands with a resident, the injury transfers to the other man. He explains that he needs his strength to clean up, not to heal from a survivable wound. He then insists that nobody is going to spread this story: the “children of Nathaniel Grace have escaped persecution” over the last few centuries for a reason. Dr. Allerton insists that he’s “a neutral force”—he does harm, but his healing balances it out. For instance, he tried to set up a college fund for Gregory, but Ellie wouldn’t stop pestering him. Ellie insists that money won’t give Gregory a father and that Dr. Allerton should’ve died.
Shockingly for Ellie, Dr. Allerton doesn’t see anything wrong with what he does (injuring and killing vulnerable people to save and heal wealthy people). In fact, he thinks that paying for Gregory’s college is enough to balance out killing Gregory’s father, whom Gregory clearly adored. This connects back to Vivian’s earlier assertion that no amount of money can actually justify killing someone: as Ellie notes here, money can’t buy Trevor’s life back, and Gregory needs his dad more than he needs money.
Themes
Ignoring her, Dr. Allerton says it’s easy enough to spread lies and convince people to forget this—and they’ll move Willowbee again. This, Ellie realizes, explains why the town looks like it belongs in New England: Nathaniel Grace founded the town in Massachusetts. Dr. Allerton calls his “siblings” to call on their magic, and Ellie realizes that nobody, especially not Trevor, is going to get justice. She asks Jay to tell her family she loves them and then summons all of her ancestors’ dogs.
The revelation that Willowbee itself moves, like a giant fairy ring, clears up several mysteries, from the strange architecture to the ubiquitous mushrooms. As Ellie realizes that Dr. Allerton is once again going to get out of answering for his crimes, she calls on her own knowledge, heritage, and power to take matters into her own hands—but in a way that the novel suggests is more justice and less vengeance.
Themes
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