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 drafts four different emails to Olly sharing the news and saying she misses him, but she doesn’t send them. Mom tries to enter Maddy’s room, but the door is locked and Maddy won’t open it. Maddy drafts more emails to Olly, and Dr. Chase continues to urge Maddy to be cautious. Four weeks after discovering she’s not sick, Maddy paints each wall in her room a different color. One is yellow, one is blue, one is lavender, and the final one is black chalkboard paint. Maddy ignores Mom’s knocks on her door.
Painting the walls in her room allows Maddy to assert her newfound identity and make it clear that she lives in the house separately from Mom. She’s also able to do this by ignoring Mom’s knocks, something that Maddy hadn’t previously felt able to do. Through this, the novel doesn’t ignore that Maddy is angry, but it still makes the case that she’s independent and taking control of her life.
Themes
