Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in It Ends with Us, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cycles of Abuse
Naked Truths
Good and Evil
Chosen Family
Summary
Analysis
After Lily explains the situation to Allysa the next morning, Allysa is only upset that she can’t keep going to Atlas’s restaurant. While the women talk, Ryle checks in with Lily, telling her that he is halfway through his surgery and in good shape. She is relieved. Lily then checks her email and finds a message from a newspaper that wants to write an article on her florist shop. Allysa pops into Lily’s office to let her know that Atlas showed up and is waiting in front.
Lily fills Allysa in, but only part of the way. She still doesn’t tell Allysa that Ryle shoved her; she is still concealing things to protect him—against her better judgement. In this scene, the email request to interview Lily shows exactly how successful her business has become, an achievement that is unfortunately Ryle’s violence overshadows.
Themes
Lily brings Atlas back to her office, and he compliments her store. He places a gift on her desk, which he tells her he bought three years prior and tells her to open later. Atlas tells Lily he has come to apologize. She tells him that it was only a misunderstanding; Ryle is a good guy. Atlas clarifies that he won’t apologize for protecting her. Instead, he’s sorry about comparing her to her mother. He finds a pen and writes his number on a sticky note, which he hides behind the battery in her phone in case she needs to get a hold of him in an emergency. Lily assures him she won’t need it.
Atlas’s apology addresses only the effect he had on Lily—not on Ryle. Atlas stands by his motivation—protecting Lily—and doubles down by providing his contact information for her to use if she needs it. Whether or not Atlas’s concerns about Ryle are correct, it is curious that Lily’s reassurances don’t faze him. Atlas seems to trust his own judgment above Lily’s and is determined to do what he believes is best for her—even if she doesn’t agree. While his desire to protect her is admirable, on some level, it challenges Lily’s ability to make decisions about her own life.
Themes
Before Atlas leaves, Lily stops him to explain that Ryle’s comment about her pitying him wasn’t based on anything she said to him. Atlas assures her that he knows that’s not what happened between them when they were in Maine. After he leaves, Lily opens the present. In the bag, she finds a copy of Ellen DeGeneres’s autobiography. On the inside cover, she sees a personalized signature from Ellen to Lily telling her to “just keep swimming.” Lily is overcome with emotion.
The gift Atlas leaves sends two main messages to Lily. The first thing it communicates is that despite yesterday’s chaos, and despite all the years that have passed, he is still the Atlas she knew in high school. He still shares their love of Ellen, and he will still encourage her to keep surviving whatever comes her way. The other message the gift conveys has to do with the fact that he got it three years ago. Even before their paths happened to collide, it shows that Lily has remained on Atlas’s mind.
Themes
