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Chapter 4
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Last Cuentista, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Story and Memory
Assimilation vs. Diversity
Family
Resistance, Courage, and Kindness
Summary
Analysis
Ben and the Peñas enter the youth stasis room. Javier is afraid to enter his pod, but Ben repeatedly reassures him and Petra that he will look after them while they’re asleep. Ben gives Javier clothes to change into and explains the process of putting him to sleep to Petra’s parents. The technology is called En Cognito, and it allows the body to survive in stasis while organs sleep. It also allows for information to be uploaded into the sleeper’s brain while they’re unconscious. Petra’s parents have arranged for her and Javier to receive general curriculum with an emphasis on geology and botany. Additionally, Petra has opted for a folklore and mythology elective, which should ensure that she knows thousands of new stories when she wakes up.
Ben’s gentle, protective personality starts to take shape in this passage as he recognizes and soothes Petra and Javier’s fear. Additionally, the value that Petra’s parents place on science is becoming clear. Not only are they both successful scientists themselves, but they also find it important for their children to receive special training in their fields. For Petra, who dreams of becoming a storyteller, the weight of their expectations must be uncomfortable.
Active
Themes
Javier grows increasingly distressed as the time comes for him to enter the pod. Petra tries to calm him down by telling him one of Lita’s stories about their ancestors living in the stars, but it backfires when Javier becomes more agitated at the idea of ghosts in the sky. Petra’s mother scolds her, and Javier’s pod starts to fill as he struggles to get out. Petra holds his hand until he goes limp in his slumber. Ben turns to Petra and hands her a bag to discard her clothes in, but she takes a conspicuously long time to see it. Ben notices her impaired vision, but he proceeds with the process anyway.
Petra’s botched attempt to comfort Javier through storytelling rattles her. Earlier, she promised Lita that she would continue her legacy and make her proud, and by failing to calm Javier, she feels like she’s failed Lita, too. Here, the strain between Petra and her mother over Petra’s storytelling ambitions is in play as well. Her scolding implies that she devalues storytelling, especially in high-pressure situations. Ben’s decision not to do anything about Petra’s vision again demonstrates his kindness, but it also suggests that he’s willing to disobey authority when it’s the right thing to do.
Active
Themes
Petra changes her clothes and hands Ben her sun pendant for safekeeping. She steps into the pod, and Ben reads out her En Cognito curriculum selection. Her “Cog” is missing the mythology elective she chose. Petra is devastated. Ben expresses confusion, explaining that the Lead Monitor oversees En Cognito. He starts to try to find Petra’s missing Cog, but before he can get it for her, the group hears banging on the exterior of the ship. A mob made up of those who weren’t invited to the new planet is attacking the ship. Ben quickly installs Petra’s Cog with only the core curriculum and science supplements on it, and Petra feels a stab of pain even though the installation is supposed to be unnoticeable. Petra loses the ability to move or speak, but even as the pod fills up, she stays perfectly awake. No one, including Ben, suspects anything is wrong. Ben shuts her eyelids.
Active
Themes
