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Faith
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Life as We Knew It, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
As Miranda and the others come to grips with their own mortality and the very real chance they might not survive, they grapple with the idea of legacy, what is or is not left behind to represent their lives. A number of characters in the novel seek to create a kind of artistic legacy, a record to capture what they think and experience in the catastrophe, from Mrs. Nesbitt’s photographs, to Matt’s sketches, to Miranda’s diary entries. Miranda’s mother, however, creates a different sort of legacy. She’d spent her career as an author prior to these disasters, yet the legacy she seeks to create has nothing to do with art. Knowing the unlikelihood of her whole family surviving, she chooses to make sure her children have a greater chance of living by eating less food. She sees her children as the legacy that will stay behind in the world, and sacrifices herself for that cause.
Actively choosing not to leave a legacy is another possibility in the story. Mrs. Nesbitt burns her journals and letters before she dies so that no one is tempted to read them – in destroying her legacy she erases her pain and suffering from the world. Mrs. Nesbitt’s action leads Miranda to question her own purpose for writing her journal. Is it boredom? Is she writing for a future reader? Does she believe that there will be a future with readers who could learn from her experiences? Ultimately Miranda decides that she’s writing the journal for herself, to document what’s she’s endured so that she can look back. This decision comes from a place of hope, because it’s based on Miranda’s belief that she will survive.
As characters are stripped of their opportunities to create futures, the records they leave behind become increasingly personally important. But, with the uncertainty of the times in which they live, it is also clear that there’s no way to ensure that what they leave behind will ever be considered, and no way to govern the way in which it is interpreted. Thus the act of leaving a legacy, as presented by the novel, is less about creating a record for those who follow, and more of a way of creating a personal record for the present, as a way of processing experiences as they occur.
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Legacy ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Legacy appears in each chapter of Life as We Knew It. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Legacy Quotes in Life as We Knew It
Below you will find the important quotes in Life as We Knew It related to the theme of Legacy.
Chapter 2 Quotes
Sometimes when Mom is getting ready to write a book she says she doesn’t know where to start, that the ending is so clear to her that the beginning doesn’t seem important anymore. I feel that way now only I don’t know what the ending is, not even what the ending is tonight.
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Miranda is writing in her diary after the asteroid’s collision with the moon, and even though the collision has happened and the day is over, she’s struggling with how to gather her thoughts and put them in context. Her comparison to the way in which Laura writes novels is apt, because Miranda is recognizing that the details she thought were important and relevant that morning have been rendered obsolete by the events of the night. Despite this, Miranda recounts her entire day in her journal, even the parts that no longer seem important. She does this to create context for Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accus
Chapter 4 Quotes
One thing Matt did say to me was that no matter what the future is, we’re living through a very special time in history. He says that history makes us who we are, but we can make history also, and that anyone can be a hero, if they just choose to be.
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Miranda records Matt’s pep talk in her diary, but she’s feeling skeptical as well as insecure about her own ability to be heroic. While Miranda idealizes Matt, she feels like her own cravings for ice cream and swim team and normalcy disqualify her from the category of hero. Miranda does recognize that Matt is her hero, but she also fails to realize that being heroic and being human are not mutually exclusive, and that Matt, like her, probably craves an escape from the burdens that have been thrust on him since his return from college. Like Miranda, there are surely Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt d
Chapter 5 Quotes
“I’m the one not caring. I’m the one pretending the earth isn’t shattering all around me because I don’t want it to be... I don’t want anything more to be afraid of. I didn’t start this diary for it to be a record of death.”
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Miranda has seemingly reached her tolerance threshold for disaster and bad news. Rather than compulsively seek out information like they all had in the days after the quake, Miranda has now begun to try and insulate herself from new information. She berates herself for this action, and for the numbness she’s begun to feel—comparing her reactions to those of her family and other people around her, and judging herself as lacking because she isn’t exhibiting the same types of compassion she attributes to everyone else. While Miranda criticizes herself for “not caring,” she fails to recognize just how human her Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti
Chapter 10 Quotes
I write stuff down in here and I don’t read it. Things are bad enough without having to remind myself of just how bad things are.
But I just read what I wrote a couple of days ago. All about how wonderful school is and all that crap. Tests. Whoo-whoo. Report cards. Whoo-whoo. The future. Biggest whoo-whoo of them all.
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Miranda has repeatedly stated that her journal is an ongoing record, not something she re-reads, or has any desire to re-read. But in this entry Miranda does look back to what she had written a few days before—when she had been cautiously optimistic about school and looking forward to the purpose it would give to her days. She had stated that no one talks about the future for fear of jinxing it—and that fear had turned out to be prescient, because she’s just returned from a meeting where it was announced the schools won’t be opening as usual this year. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commod
Chapter 15 Quotes
I’ve never really thought about what it would be like to be an old woman. Of course nowadays I’m not sure I’ll live long enough to be any kind of woman.
But I hope when I get closer to death, however old I might be, that I can face it with courage and good sense the way Mrs. Nesbitt does. I hope that’s a lesson I’ve truly learned.
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Once Laura is confined to their home due to her sprained ankle, the task of visiting their neighbor, Mrs. Nesbitt, becomes another of Miranda’s chores. Since Mrs. Nesbitt has been like a member of Miranda’s family, when she starts to matter-of-factly discuss her death and the things she’d like done after she’s passed, Miranda is understandably shaken. She quickly comes to realize, however, how Mrs. Nesbitt’s plans are an act of love and a blessing. Mrs. Nesbitt doesn’t want the others to worry after she’s gone. She doesn’t want her body to be a burden, and she wants to make Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusa
Chapter 17 Quotes
“If we all die, you’ll leave,” I said. “Because you’ll be strong enough to. And maybe someplace in America or Mexico or somewhere things are better and you’ll manage to get there. And then Mom’s life and Matt’s and mine won’t have been a waste.”
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Miranda is trying to comfort Jonny about what will happen if they all don’t survive. She’s trying to make sense of why everyone in their family insists Jonny eat the most, even though they’re all starving. Much in the way Matt treats her with respect when she asks questions she suspects are ridiculous, Miranda is trying to answer Jonny’s questions with the dignity and seriousness they deserve. Once Miranda had resented the same plan she now repeats to her brother—she’d been jealous that Jonny was given more food and that her mom had pinned all her hopes on him. Now, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dol
Chapter 18 Quotes
Do people ever realize how precious life is? I know I never did before. There was always time. There was always a future.
Maybe because I don’t know anymore if there is a future, I’m grateful for the good things that have happened to me this year.
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It seems almost ridiculous for Miranda to spend her New Year’s Eve expressing gratitude for the previous year. Since the asteroid’s collision in May, her life has only gotten increasingly painful and more difficult. But despite this—in fact, because of this, Miranda has come to appreciate aspects of life that she’d taken for granted before the disaster. Miranda no longer takes anything for granted, not even her life or the idea that she’ll have a future. Instead she’s taken to using her diary not only to chronicle her hardships and complaints, but also the simple joys she experiences with her Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores
Chapter 19 Quotes
I don’t even know why I’m writing this down, except that I feel fine and maybe tomorrow I’ll be dead. And if that happens, and someone should find my journal, I want them to know what happened.
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Miranda has woken up to discover that the rest of her family has fallen ill with the flu that has decimated the local population. She doesn’t know if they’ll survive, but the two surviving nurses at the hospital tell her it’s very unlikely. Miranda is exhausted from caring for Jonny, Laura, and Matt all day. She’s terrified that they will die and she’ll be left alone, but also scared that if she falls ill, there will be no one left to take care of them. Despite the fact that she’s stretched herself to her limits, physically and emotionally, Miranda still Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi neces
Chapter 21 Quotes
I’d left a record. People would know I had lived. That counted for a lot.
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At this point Miranda has resigned herself to the fact that she won’t survive. And much like she admired Mrs. Nesbitt’s courage and dignity in the way she faced her death in Chapter 15, Miranda is now trying to come to terms with her own mortality. One of the ways she justifies this to herself is by reflecting on her journal. Unlike Mrs. Nesbitt, who had burned all of her journals and letters before death, Miranda finds comfort in the idea that her words could outlive her. As she walks to what she believes will be her death, she is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asp
But today, when I am 17 and warm and well fed, I’m keeping this journal for myself so that I can always remember life as we knew it, life as we know it, for a time when I am no longer in the sunroom.
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Throughout the novel Miranda has questioned the purpose behind her journal. She has objected to it being a record of the dead, thought of it as a record she’s kept to be read by the survivors, something to keep away from nosy little brothers, and documents that proved her existence. As the book ends, however, Miranda spends its concluding lines redefining what the journal means. She no longer pictures it as an artifact for someone else—Miranda has now embraced her journal as something she’s keeping for herself. This is the ultimate act of hope, because it requires Miranda to change Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam of
