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Chapter 41
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 returns to her home in Cambridge and desperately tries to see Ash and Molly one last time, knowing that she’s about to fade back to the Midnight Library. She finds them in the back garden and gives Molly one last hug, telling her that she loves her and Ash, and that her mother will always be there for her, even if not in the exact same way. Her last comforting thought before fading from this life is that—just like the garden’s flowers being watered by the rain—Ash and Molly are taken care of, and will continue to live a happy life with their own version of Nora. As Ash tells Nora about their plans for this evening, Nora smiles sadly at him and returns to the Midnight Library, unable to do anything to stop it.
Even after all she’s learned and experienced during her journey, Nora feels a familiar sense of helpless despair as she fades from this life at last. But deep down, she reluctantly accepts her painful fate, knowing that she didn’t really belong in this world. After everything she’s been through and all her attempts to find and cling to the perfect life, Nora’s defining moment is the act of letting go of a life that doesn’t belong to her and isn’t really perfect in the first place.
Active
Themes
