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 30, 2014. Luc and Addie walk through Manhattan after the disastrous dinner. It’s pleasantly warm outside, and Luc’s mood seems to have improved. Luc takes Addie to a bar at the top of a skyscraper called The Low Road. Inside, the floors are made of bronze. People sit on velvet sofas and gaze down at the city from balconies. The hostess, Renee, brings them a bottle of fine Champagne. Addie sips the Champagne as Luc points out famous people in the bar. Addie wonders which of them has sold their soul.
The juxtaposition of this scene, in which Luc takes Addie out for a romantic evening on the town, with the previous chapter, in which Addie considered the possibility that Luc’s romantic overtures have been manipulative all along, should make the reader skeptical of Luc’s intentions with this evening. He’s said he’ll spare Henry if Addie spends the evening with him, but can Addie trust Luc to keep his word?
Themes
Then Addie turns to Luc and asks him, once more, to let Henry go. Luc tells Addie to drop it. What does Addie see in Henry, anyway? And besides, Luc argues, Henry and Addie are completely different people: Addie wanted to live, while Henry wanted to die. Addie says that Henry is lost but will find himself if Luc only gives him the chance. Plus, Luc will never know whether Henry would have really jumped from the roof that night, since he interfered before Henry could decide for himself.
Luc sees Henry’s human fragility as a weakness. Addie, meanwhile, finds Henry’s imperfections and complexities endearing—his flaws make knowing and loving him an interesting, unpredictable adventure. Addie can’t know for certain any more than Luc can if Henry would’ve jumped from the roof, had Luc let him. But what she does know is that Luc’s interference denied Henry the freedom to work through things on his own.
Themes
Luc tells Addie to choose a patron in the bar to damn in exchange for Henry’s life. He reminds her that everything has “a cost,” and that she must pay if she wants to save Henry. Addie doesn’t think she can do it, but then her hand rises and selects a random man from the crowd. But Luc does nothing; he only laughs and says that Addie has changed. Addie realizes that he’s messing with her. Luc promises to be serious from now on. Then he pulls her closer. Suddenly, the bar is gone, and she’s surrounded by darkness. Then she’s in the woods—all alone.
In manipulating Addie into selecting a random patron to sacrifice to save Henry, Luc has shown Addie that she’s not as different from Luc as she thinks she is: she’s just as willing to interfere with mortal affairs as Luc is, and she’s lying to herself if she thinks otherwise. This scene further obscures Luc’s true intentions with Addie. While he might be emphasizing their similarities to entice Addie to surrender her soul to him, the possibility remains that Luc’s love for Addie is sincere and that he’s trying to woo her in some twisted way.
Themes
