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 shares a picture of her boarding pass from Los Angeles to New York City. In the air, she stares out the window at neatly delineated farmland, but she knows that in reality, the world isn’t as ordered as it looks. Dr. Chase isn’t thrilled with Maddy’s choice to fly, but fortunately Mom didn’t try to stop Maddy. Maddy tries to put herself in Mom’s shoes and figure out how they got here, but she keeps coming back to the fact that love—and losing love—makes people crazy. She knows that Mom loved Maddy’s dad, loved Maddy’s brother, and still loves Maddy. Maddy can almost understand that Mom felt she had nothing when she lost her husband and son. Mom asked when Maddy would come home again. Maddy admitted that she’s not sure this is home anymore, which made Mom cry. Maddy reads The Little Prince and the meaning changes again.
Though certainly heartbreaking for Maddy’s mom to hear, Maddy’s suggestion that this isn’t home anymore reflects where Maddy is in her development—she’s a young woman setting out into the world to live her life; she’s no longer Mom’s dependent daughter who must call this house home for her own health and safety. That Maddy is starting to understand how Mom feels and may have felt suggests that they may be able to repair their relationship and hopefully, go on to build one that’s fulfilling for both of them—and one in which they can both be adults and trust each other.
Themes
