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
For the last hour, Ellie has been touching ghosts’ consciousnesses, wondering if the ghostly wild animals could be convinced to frighten Abe Allerton into confessing. This, of course, is nonsense: wild ghosts can be dangerous. Ellie is glad to pick up Jay’s call just before she and Dad reach Willowbee. Jay says that Abe is a seemingly perfect, and obviously wealthy, man: he leads the local Boy Scout troop, hosts monthly charity events at his mansion, and his medical practice has almost perfect reviews. He also seems to be friendly with local law enforcement. Jay texts Ellie Abe’s address and they hang up. Dad grudgingly agrees to drive past the mansion.
The information Jay turns up on Abe Allerton suggests not only that he’s perfect and virtuous on paper, but that he’s also going to be difficult to take down (if he has a relationship with law enforcement, who would be prosecuting him in Trevor’s murder). He has institutional power and a benevolent image to protect him from any investigations, which a working-class schoolteacher like Trevor would not have had. This continues to suggest that Trevor isn’t going to get justice, at least in a state-sanctioned way.
Themes
Dad pulls off the freeway, and Ellie takes in the cacti, shrubs, and mesquite trees. From the backseat, Kirby barks—a warning that there’s danger ahead. A sign announces Willowbee’s city limits and population, and “Texas” on the sign looks like it’s been painted over something else. The town itself looks like it belongs in New England, and signs announce Willowbee’s 200th birthday soon. The houses all have lush, green lawns—meanwhile the rest of Texas barely has enough water to drink. Dad drives out of town past ranches until they find the Allerton mansion. The landscaping is lush, wooded, and covered in small white mushrooms. As Kirby growls, Ellie says they need to leave. Dad speeds away.
Everything about Willowbee suggests things are just a little off, from the architecture and the painted-over sign to Kirby’s clear discomfort with something supernatural in the area. The lushness in Willowbee, more than anything else, suggests its wealth and power: the town can afford to buy (or is illegally taking) precious water to maintain its landscaping, leaving those with less privilege to do without.
Themes
Several miles later, Ellie admits she doesn’t understand why Abe Allerton killed Trevor—and Dad cautions that there wasn’t a good reason. He says he believes in Ellie and her dream. Ellie thinks back through what Trevor told her in the dream: that he met Abe once, at parent-teacher conferences. Abe’s son must be 11 or so by now. While tradition states that the dead should be buried with important possessions, Ellie hopes that Trevor isn’t buried with his teaching materials.
Dad suggests that no matter what reason Allerton might give for murdering Trevor, it’s not going to make Trevor’s murder okay. Understanding, in this context, isn’t going to make Ellie feel any better, make Trevor’s death easier to swallow, or get him justice. Ellie then begins to introduce readers to Lipan Apache burial traditions, which help the living cope with their grief and show respect to the dead.
Themes
