Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I Am the Messenger, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Circumstance vs. Choice
Heroism, Sainthood, and Ordinariness
Purpose, Success, and Meaning
Hope, Caring, and Beauty
Summary
Analysis
Ed collects his things and begins to leave Audrey. He says he will see her at the next card game, but she promises him he will see her sooner than that. Ed walks home, thinking about how he has completed twelve tasks across four cards. He has never felt so victorious and free in his life. He sits in his kitchen and drinks coffee with his dog, but suddenly his positive attitude disappears. He hears someone open a latch and then run away.
The freedom and happiness Ed feels at having completed his mission shows a desire to control his own life. This suggests that succeeding in helping others leads one to feel more confident and secure in their own agency as well.
Themes
Slowly, Ed walks to his mailbox. He opens the box and finds an envelope with his name on it. He can see that the envelope contains one more card with one more address on it. He collapses on the lawn. Thoughts elude him as he opens the envelope and sees the address written on the card, the Joker. It is the address to his own home, meaning the last mission is for him.
The appearance of another card in Ed’s life suggests that one cannot escape outside influences on their life, even when they’re worked hard to gain autonomy. The fact that this last card carries Ed’s own address, however, suggests that Ed’s life has always been intimately tied to those of the people he’s helped, whether he’s known it or not.
Themes
