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Chapter 11
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Midnight Library, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Regret, Depression, and Suicide
Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
Possibility and Perseverance
Embracing Imperfection
Summary
Analysis
Nora appears in a different section of the Midnight Library than the one she last saw. She notices a small office area with a desk and a computer. Mrs. Elm sits nearby, playing chess with herself at a different table. The two of them discuss how that life wasn’t what Nora had expected. Nora wonders if Dan had changed or if he had always been like that, and Nora just hadn’t been able to see it. Mrs. Elm asks Nora how she’s feeling, and Nora continues to express suicidal thoughts, insisting she still wants to die. Mrs. Elm focuses on the word “want,” linking it to something she might lack and need to acquire. She wonders if there’s still a life somewhere that Nora wants to live. Nora reluctantly plays along and asks for the life where she had successfully taken care of her cat, Volts.
While the symbolic significance of Mrs. Elm’s chessboard becomes clear later on, it makes its first appearance in the Library in this moment, reminding Nora of the games of chess the two of them would play back in the school library. Seemingly having known that Nora would be unsatisfied with her life with Dan, Mrs. Elm continues to gently guide Nora and help her to figure things out for herself, refusing to believe that Nora truly wants to die. As Nora’s mentor, Mrs. Elm’s role in moments like this is to offer Nora new possibilities that will teach her a new lesson.
Active
Themes
