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Chapter 8
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Severance, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Capitalism and Autonomy
Immigrant Identity
Consumerism
Corporate Power and Sexism
Urban Ecologies
Summary
Analysis
In the present, Candace lies in the tent while Ashley, Janelle, and Evan chat and gossip around the fire. They are the closest thing to friends Candace has in the group, having only been with them for a few weeks. The four of them share a truck when they drive toward the Facility during the day, listening to music and sharing stories. The other three smoke weed, but Candace does not. Around the fire, Candace listens as the three debate how far they actually are from the Facility, and where they might live if they had their way. Ashley notes that Chicago is a good location because the fever spreads far less in colder climates—places like Finland and Iceland were somewhat functional, last they heard. These places also instituted travel and trade bans early on in the pandemic.
Positioned as a listener in the tent, Candace still remains the outsider, even amongst the smaller group that she considers closer to being “friends.” There is always something preventing Candace from fully engaging with a group—in this case, she does not smoke their weed and does not stay up late with them. Still—much like how she would look into windows while taking photos for NY Ghost—Candace gains something from gazing in (or in this case listening in) on the lives of others. Candace is most comfortable in this state of transience.
Active
Themes
The crew make a pact to go off and live somewhere else together if they don’t like the Facility. They clink their glasses, and Janelle insists Candace should be included too. Evan jokes that Candace would just want to go back to New York, and Janelle brings up NY Ghost. NY Ghost became one of the only remaining news sources during the end. Candace updated it regularly with pictures of the city as it fell, taking requests from commenters to photograph their old neighborhoods and such until the comments dried up altogether. Candace has not told the group she is NY Ghost, wanting to keep at least some secrets to herself.
Candace could reveal that she is NY Ghost to this smaller group to gain their trust , but she chooses not to. She values being “unknowable” and “unpossessed,” as her father did. Candace also begins to reveal how her relationship to the photos she took for NY Ghost changed during the pandemic. The comments allowed her even more insight into the lives of the people she might’ve wondered about before, and this in turn allows her to become closer to the city itself.
Active
Themes
While Ashley, Evan, and Janelle continue to talk, Candace dozes off but comes to someone extinguishing the fire and an engine pulling away. She fears that the others might be leaving without her, but eventually she hears them returning. A few nights pass without incident. The group finally makes it to Indiana, meaning they are one state away from the Facility. The group moves slowly as they are only working with an outdated atlas that Bob found, and they often must reroute due to abandoned cars clogging lanes or damage to the roads.
Active
Themes
Genevieve makes dulce de leche out of condensed milk, and the group enjoys it around the fire. Bob announces he has a gift for Candace and hands her a Bible. Opening it reveals it is a trick bible with a space cut out, containing her old iPhone. Candace figured she had lost it while fleeing the city, but Adam explains it was on the seat next to her. When she tries to turn the phone on, it won’t work, and Candace notices a new crack down the center. Bob clarifies that they broke it on purpose and begins to monologue about how it represents her past life and how all of them will benefit from leaving the internet behind—a space where time is flattened and people commune with the past. Now, they have only the future to focus on.
Active
Themes
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Bob announces they will arrive at the Facility in two or three days, and he tells everyone to get some sleep so they’re ready for the upcoming days of travel. Once again, Ashley, Evan, and Janelle remain by the fire, and this time when Candace hears them sneaking off, she gets out of her tent and confronts them. The crew explains they have been sneaking off to do “baby stalks” at night, mostly to replenish their weed supply and find drugs. Candace asks if she can come. The others agree, but they explain this stalk is different: this time, they are going to find Ashley’s house.
Active
Themes
