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 feels better after eating. Olly insists they need beach gear and souvenirs, so they stop at a souvenir shop. Maddy tries unsuccessfully to find their names on monogrammed surfboard key chains and picks out a calendar of shirtless surfers for Carla. Olly shares what he got for Kara and for Olly’s mom, and Maddy says she’s going to get herself macadamia nuts and a dress. Olly asks what she’s going to get for Mom. This stumps Maddy, as she thinks that nothing will be good enough for the woman who gave up her world to care for her. Maddy wanders away, thinking that most teens separate from their parents by age 18. She and Mom, however, have shared space for 18 years and it’s odd to make memories without her. Maddy wonders what Mom will do if she doesn’t make it home and chooses to send a postcard.
The way that Maddy conceptualizes what Mom has done for her shows again that Maddy doesn’t really see anything wrong or amiss with their relationship, even as she understands that their dynamic isn’t tenable if Maddy wishes to become an independent adult. Sending Mom a postcard allows Maddy to impress upon Mom that Maddy is doing this because she wants to see what the world has to offer and wants Mom to see that she’s having a good time doing so. It invites Mom into Maddy’s experience and thought process.
Themes
