This Is Where It Ends

by

Marieke Nijkamp

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Themes and Colors
Gun Violence Theme Icon
Community and Tragedy Theme Icon
Family and Sibling Relationships Theme Icon
Change, Uncertainty, and Growing Up Theme Icon
Abuse Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in This Is Where It Ends, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Sibling Relationships Theme Icon

Some families in This Is Where It Ends are characterized by generally positive relationships: Claire takes pride in caring for her younger brother, Matt, while the twins Sylvia and Tomás have a fraught but close relationship. Elsewhere, the dynamic is less healthy: Autumn sees her brother Tyler as a loving defense against her abusive Dad, but as the novel progresses Tyler reveals himself as violent and predatory towards her as well. Despite the differences in their family situations, the love between Sylvia and Tomás is a strong parallel to the bond between Autumn and Tyler; while Sylvia gains new respect for her brother because of his brave actions, Autumn continues to love her own brother despite his crimes. Ultimately, the novel argues that regardless of personal character or flaws, sibling bonds are among the most formative and inescapable of human relationships.

Each of the novel’s four protagonists is deeply grounded in the particular struggles of his or her family. The dynamic in Claire’s family is highly positive. She has two living parents and untroubled relationships with her older sister Tracy, currently serving in the military, and younger brother, Matt. Much of the family’s life revolves around caring for Matt, who has Lupus, but this challenge ties the family together rather than weakening its bonds.

Living on a farm, Sylvia and Tomás’s family is of humbler origins. Their father is absent, and their Mamá is suffering from a degenerative brain disease. Still, their older brothers and Abuelo help keep everything running, and Sylvia is thankful for their support and acceptance of her girlfriend, Autumn.

Autumn and her brother, Tyler, are still reeling from their Mom’s death a year earlier. Since this tragedy their father has become an abusive alcoholic, leaving them to fend for themselves. While Autumn loves her older brother and considers him her prime support in this time of trouble, it becomes increasingly clear that he is trying to control her life and even behaves violently himself.

Throughout the novel, Sylvia and Tomás’s evolving relationship shows how sibling ties can define one’s life in a positive way. At the beginning of the novel, the twins’ relationship is distanced and fraught, as Sylvia has been shutting her brother out since being raped by Tyler the previous summer. Still, both siblings fondly remember their previous closeness and the mischief they make together. As the shooting unfolds, both siblings’ actions are motivated by concern for the other: Sylvia is thankful that Tomás has escaped imprisonment in the auditorium while he risks his life to unchain the doors and free her, proclaiming that if Tyler hurts his sister, he will “kill him slowly.” By the end of the novel, Sylvia has explained the trauma that disrupted their relationship and the twins reconcile before Tomás sacrifices his life for her, distracting Tyler so that Sylvia can escape.

Although Autumn’s relationship with her brother is not nearly so positive, it’s equally defining and precious to her. Like the twins, Autumn and Tyler are two siblings close in age. Autumn, like Sylvia, is devoted to her brother and relies on him for support. As does Tomás, Tyler claims to love his sister more than anyone else, but unlike Tomás he actively sabotages her dreams in order to keep her with him, and ultimately embarks on a killing spree because he feels she doesn’t love him enough. Despite this troubling dynamic, during the shooting Autumn confronts her brother, not just to save her friends but to prevent him from committing further crimes for his own sake. Her desperate speeches show the love she still has for him, even though he’s a murderer. And though Tyler shoots his sister in the knee just before he kills himself—a spiteful action to make sure she can’t ever dance again—Autumn is still distraught that he’s dead. The image of her weeping over his dead body mirrors Sylvia mourning for Tomás and shows that sibling relationships remain strong and defining even when they’re definitively unhealthy.

The different characters’ trajectories show that sibling relationships can draw a family together or tear it apart. Whether they are positive or negative, these relationships remain equally central and compelling to all the characters.

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Family and Sibling Relationships ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Family and Sibling Relationships appears in each chapter of This Is Where It Ends. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Family and Sibling Relationships Quotes in This Is Where It Ends

Below you will find the important quotes in This Is Where It Ends related to the theme of Family and Sibling Relationships.
Chapter 4 Quotes

My brother, who cared for my bruises when Dad couldn’t contain his grief. Who helped me dance in secret. My fingers wrap around the ballet charm. Even after everything he’s done, he is my home.

Related Characters: Autumn Browne (speaker), Tyler Browne
Page Number: 42
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

The only things that give us purpose are the stories that tie us together. We all have so many secrets to keep. And I hold mine close.

Related Characters: Sylvia Morales (speaker), Autumn Browne
Page Number: 50
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

This isn’t about returning fire or self-defense. This is about revenge. If this guy hurt my sister or anyone else, I’ll kill him. Slowly.

Related Characters: Tomás Morales (speaker), Sylvia Morales, Tyler Browne
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

“Ty wasn’t just angry,” I manage at last. “He was vindictive. When he got into fights with Tomás, he wouldn’t take it out on him. He’d take it out on the people close to you.”

Related Characters: Claire Morgan (speaker), Tyler Browne
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

I can’t imagine what it’s like not to have that. For as much as I despise Tyler, I love Autumn. It’s why I could never tell her what he did. I want her to be able to keep the only true family she has.

Related Characters: Sylvia Morales (speaker), Autumn Browne, Tyler Browne
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“It was your fault,” he says. “All of this, it’s your fault.”

Related Characters: Tyler Browne (speaker), Autumn Browne
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

I need to get to Sylv before Ty sees her. Because if he does, there will be nothing left. If she dies, I will never be able to tell her that she is the one who keeps me standing. That her lips taste like a promise. That she makes me want to be a better version of myself.

Related Characters: Autumn Browne (speaker), Sylvia Morales, Tyler Browne
Page Number: 187
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

Ty made good on his promise. I didn’t need to die for him to kill me. He simply lowered his gun and pulled the trigger. And his bullet tore my knee to shreds.

Related Characters: Autumn Browne (speaker), Tyler Browne
Page Number: 270
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

I hold on for one more moment. Then, around me, other lanterns are released. They float over our heads into the darkness, toward the promise of a new day.

Related Characters: Sylvia Morales (speaker), Tomás Morales
Page Number: 281
Explanation and Analysis: