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Chapter 2
Themes
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
Marcellus studies the plaque beside his tank, resentful that his aquarium diet—mostly herring—falls short of what a giant Pacific octopus would eat in the wild. After hours, he sometimes slips out of his tank to hunt for better fare like crabs, shrimp, or fish eggs. Tonight, lured by an aroma from the break room trash can, he ended up tangled in a mess of power cords. He might not have escaped if the cleaning woman—Tova—hadn’t come to his rescue.
Marcellus’s irritation with his aquarium diet reinforces the idea that he’s more than just sentient—he’s critical, calculating, and not above taking matters into his own hands (or tentacles). His acknowledgment of Tova’s role in his survival is also significant. Despite his general disdain for humans, he’s beginning to register her as different from the others.
Themes
