Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Testaments, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Religious Totalitarianism and Hypocrisy
Gender Roles
Truth, Knowledge, and Power
Shame, Fear, and Repression
Choice
Summary
Analysis
Agnes feels like they’ve been in the inflatable for hours, rowing for their lives. She feels certain that they will die, tipped by a wave into the ocean. When she feels as if she cannot row any longer, Nicole yells at her to keep moving anyway. They can hear a large wave approaching them and Nicole shouts, but before it hits them, they hear the sound of gravel beneath the raft. The wave throws them from the inflatable into shallow water and they drag themselves onto the shore.
Once again, although Agnes is the older sister by many years, Nicole’s far greater confidence and capability suggests that, unhindered by such restrictive gender roles her whole life, Nicole was able to develop much further in her abilities to adapt and survive than Agnes ever had the ability to do, thus arguing that the absence of strict gender roles allows an individual to grow and thrive to a much greater degree.
Themes
