Previous
Chapter 13
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Thing About Jellyfish, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Grief and the Unknown
Communication and Being Understood
Puberty and Coming of Age
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
As Suzy continues her jellyfish research in the present, she’s surprised at just how many scientists there are studying jellyfish. Before a science lab, Suzy’s partner Justin sees her looking at some pages she printed out. He jokes that they look like FBI files.
Although Justin jokes about Suzy’s files on jellyfish, he is also the only one who seems to notice them and take an interest in them, which shows how he is learning to understand Suzy even before she starts talking again.
Active
Themes
One of the possible experts in Suzy’s files is Diana Nyad, the long-distance swimmer who had to stop her attempt from Cuba to Florida due to jellyfish. Suzy finds her interesting but rejects her as too intimidating. Another expert is Angel Yanagihara, a biochemist in Hawaii who was stung by a box jellyfish at an early age and is now helping Diana Nyad with new research at age 64. Suzy thinks Angel’s blond hair is like Franny’s so she might be promising. But eventually, Suzy finds Jamie and knows that Jamie is the expert she’s been looking for.
Active
Themes
