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Chapter 24
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Remarkably Bright Creatures, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Grief and Memory
Loneliness and Companionship
Family
Closure and Healing
Summary
Analysis
Wearing the medical boot her doctor has instructed her to keep on for six weeks, Tova feels like the injured crab Erik once rescued from the beach as a child, two of its ten limbs missing. The memory lingers as Janice knocks at the door, arriving with a casserole in hand. She brews coffee and shares the news that Mary Ann is leaving Sowell Bay to live with her daughter in Spokane. Before heading out, Janice also gives Tova her first cellphone, a decision agreed upon by the entire Knit-Wit circle. Tova insists she doesn’t need one, but Janice is firm.
The news of Mary Ann’s departure from Sowell Bay to live with her daughter is a somber reminder that Tova does not have the same option to move in with her own child in her old age. But Janice gifting her a cell phone represents a kind of community scaffolding, demonstrating how deeply Tova’s friends care about her wellbeing, though her resistance to their kindness is a reminder of how tightly she clings to her independence.
Active
Themes
That evening, as Tova reheats the casserole for dinner, the phone buzzes in her pocket. The vibration startles her so badly that she drops the dish and falls to the floor. Sitting there, aching and alone, she thinks of the other Knit-Wits, many of whom are being looked after by their children as they age. It strikes Tova then—she has no one who will care for her like that. The thought is heavy and sobering. Later that evening, the Charter Village application comes to mind. For the first time, she seriously considers filling it out.
