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. September 4, 2013. Henry is “sick of his broken heart” and “storm-filled brain.” He drinks to oblivion, and then walks home in the pouring rain. His phone goes off, but he ignores it. Then he leans back on some stairs outside and looks up at a rooftop. At some point, he decides to jump. He walks upstairs and goes out onto the roof. He tries to tell himself that this “storm” will pass, “but he is tired of looking for shelter.” Then a stranger approaches him, offers him happiness—not forever, but “for a single year.” And Henry accepts.
This brief chapter lays out exactly what happened the night of Henry’s deal: Luc gave Henry happiness and love, but only for one year. It’s this latter, highly important detail that Henry has withheld from Addie—and that Luc has taken such pleasure in Addie finally discovering. Luc, it seems, has allowed for Addie and Henry’s paths to cross to be cruel, not kind: he’s given Addie someone to love, only to take that person away from her the minute she grows attached to him.
Themes
