Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in There There, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cultural Identity vs. Personal Identity
Storytelling
Interconnectedness, Coincidence, and Chance
Generational Trauma
Summary
Analysis
Even though the guns are plastic, Octavio is nervous as he and his group go through the metal detectors. They make it through without incident, and Octavio sneakily retrieves the bullets from the bush where Tony left them. In the bathroom, Octavio, Charles, Carlos, and Calvin load their guns. Octavio feels a sense of dread. His hands shake, and he drops a bullet on the ground. It rolls out of the stall and onto the bathroom floor. Octavio hears shoes squeaking outside his stall, and knows that Tony has come into the bathroom to get his bullets.
As the moment of truth approaches, Octavio is clearly having second thoughts about his plan—and becoming both hasty and nervous in the process of preparing for what he has to do.
Themes
