Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl Who Drank the Moon, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Love
Storytelling, Censorship, and Control
Memory, Forgetting, and the Future
Sorrow vs. Hope
Summary
Analysis
The madwoman is used to being uncomfortable, but the paper birds cut her legs as they fly toward the swamp. She pictures her baby and remembers that long before she was born, her mother sacrificed a baby boy to the Witch. Her mother used to have visions of that boy growing up, just as the madwoman dreams of her own baby. The birds let the madwoman down in the swamp. Her heart leaps as she tries to remember the name she gave her baby, and then thinks of the Sisters telling her that her baby wasn’t real. The madwoman knows this isn’t true, and thinks that the Sisters themselves were just following orders—there’s only one true liar in the Tower. She wonders how long she’s been mad.
As the madwoman thinks about her treatment in the Tower, she shows again how storytelling can be used to alter a person’s reality and change what they think is true—though, fortunately for the madwoman, she still knows that her daughter exists and was taken from her. Sharing visions of her baby with her mother suggests that these visions are something that all mothers of sacrificed children experience, again making it clear that the bonds between birth parents and their children are unbreakable in the world of the novel.
Themes
The swamp appears to be empty. The madwoman tells the emptiness that she doesn’t remember her name, but she’s looking for her child. Noticing that the door is ajar, the madwoman approaches. She notices that the goats need to be milked and the chickens are hungry. Inside, she looks around. There are drawings of a monster, a dragon, and an old lady on the wall. One drawing is of a woman with black hair in a Tower, and it reads, “she is here.” The madwoman notices the signatures and realizes that her daughter’s name is Luna. The madwoman also realizes that Luna and her companions are in the woods, where, possibly, there’s a witch afoot.
It’s likely that on some level, the madwoman recognizes that Luna’s drawings and maps, especially those that say, “she is here,” reflect her own. This shows again how strong the bond is between birth parents and children. Importantly, however, the madwoman doesn’t interpret any of Luna’s drawings of her companions as threatening. This suggests that the madwoman will be open to understanding that Glerk, Fyrian, and Xan are also Luna’s family.
Themes
