Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Everything, Everything, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
Trust and Lies
Family, Abuse, and Bravery
The Value of Experience
Summary
Analysis
Maddy defines obsession as acute and justifiable interest in someone or something that’s very interesting. She explains that spending all night instant messaging Olly is catching up with her. She’s fallen asleep during two movie nights, which makes Mom worry—Maddy is more likely to get sick if she doesn’t get enough sleep. Maddy talks with Olly until two a.m. instead of three a.m. that night. She thinks that it’s odd to not talk to Mom about Olly and notices that she and Mom are drifting apart. This isn’t because Olly is replacing Mom, it’s just because Maddy is keeping a secret for the first time.
When Maddy identifies that she and Mom are growing apart because she’s keeping a secret, it makes it very clear that Mom doesn’t support Maddy having privacy about things like this. This suggests that if the truth does come out, it won’t go over well—Maddy is probably correct that if she were to share anything about Olly with Mom, Mom would be hurt and upset that Maddy has a life outside of their relationship. This, again, signals an unhealthy dynamic to Mom and Maddy’s relationship–even if Maddy can’t see this herself.
Themes
