Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory and Meaning
Love and Vulnerability
Freedom
Art, Creativity, and Expression
Wonder and Knowledge
Summary
Analysis
New York City. July 24, 2014. Addie and Henry are on the rooftop of Robbie’s building with some others to watch the fireworks. Addie watches Henry. He’s been acting strangely all day. The bookstore was closed today, so they spent the afternoon at home. But she was too tired to tell him stories, and he was too tired to write.
The reader will know that Henry is acting strangely because it’s the fourth of the month—a significant day for Henry. Per his deal with Luc, he must surrender his soul on September 4, at which point he will die. But Addie doesn’t know this, so she can’t understand Henry’s distant mood. Finally, the novel suggests that creativity and expression play a huge role in creating meaning and purpose in life, so the fact that Addie and Henry are too tired to write or tell stories to each other emphasizes their current lethargy.
Themes
Robbie reappears, his arms full of half-melted popsicles. Addie decides that this is the time she’ll finally win him over. She wraps her arms around him and says she’s heard so much about him from Henry. Robbie steps back, skeptical. But when Addie asks about Robbie’s current work, he blushes and gives in, telling Addie all about his latest project, a spin on Faust. Addie returns to Henry and proudly announces that she’s finally gotten through to Robbie. Henry barely reacts. “What’s wrong?” Addie asks him. When Henry says “Nothing,” Addie knows it’s a lie.
Robbie’s latest project, an adaptation of Goethe’s drama Faust, resonates with the novel’s plot: Faust is about a mythic alchemist who makes a deal with the devil. That Robbie should perform this play specifically gestures toward the idea that art imitates life, and this reinforces the novel’s overarching view that art plays an essential role in helping people understand the world and make their lives meaningful.
Themes
Henry and Addie return to Henry’s apartment. Henry asks Addie why she lied about her name when they first met. Addie explains that normally she can’t say her name—people’s faces go blank when she does. Henry asks Addie why telling the truth matters when she’ll just be forgotten—why is that part of the curse? Addie thinks. Then she offers that a person doesn’t know the importance of their name until they don’t have one anymore. Also, before Henry, Luc was the only person who could say Addie’s name. Henry asks Addie when the last time she saw Luc was. “Almost thirty years ago,” she replies. She doesn’t mention that their anniversary is fast approaching.
One important detail Addie emphasizes in this section is that, before Henry, Luc was the only person who could speak Addie’s name. With this stipulation, Luc symbolically retained control over Addie and severely limited the degree to which she could form connections with others. In this way, she implies that names are important not because they make a person identifiable, but because they invite human interaction. Also, this section builds tension with its reference to Addie’s fast-approaching anniversary with Luc. This, combined with Henry’s own anniversary, suggests that things will soon come to a head.
Themes
