The City of Ember Chapters 11–13 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 11–13

Summary: Chapters 11: Lizzie’s Groceries

Lina and Poppy spend the day at Mrs. Murdo's house, where she feeds them and keeps them tucked up in blankets, and Lina feels comforted. The next morning Mrs. Murdo tells Lina that she and Poppy must move in so she can care for Poppy while Lina is at work. Lina later sees Lizzie leaving the Supply Depot carrying a sack. When Lizzie falls, out roll cans of applesauce and other coveted goods no one has seen in years. Though Lina accepts Lizzie’s gift of creamed corn and peaches, she grows concerned and confronts her friend about what she saw the next day. Lizzie reveals that her new boyfriend and storeroom worker, Looper, explores forgotten rooms in search of rare goods. Lina’s concern grows when she realizes he also sells them in his store. Lina is tempted by Lizzie’s offer to give her more, including colored paper and shoes, if she keeps things secret but ultimately declines. She tells Lizzie that it is wrong that a select few should possess such precious goods while others go without. Lizzie and Looper believe that if everything is running out they might as well enjoy themselves while they can.

Summary: Chapter 12: A Dreadful Discovery

Doon revisits the closed door in Tunnel 351 and finds a key left in its lock. Inside, he sees a brightly lit room filled with food cans, clothes, light bulbs, and other supplies. He also spies a cozy living room where Mayor Cole, overweight and stuffed with food, dozes in an armchair. Doon shares his discovery with Lina, who in turn reveals her findings about Lizzie and Looper, including her recent revelation: The mysterious man with the lurching gait in the tunnel must be Looper. And, based on the message he asked Lina to relay on her first day of work, he is conspiring with the mayor. Lizzie tells Doon about Granny, and his sympathy makes her realize that Doon is her best friend. Believing the evidence against the mayor will lead to his arrest, Lina and Doon head to the Gathering Hall and tell Assistant Guard Barton Snode, who conveys their news to his fellow guards just as Lina and Doon leave the hall.

Summary: Chapter 13: Deciphering the Message

Lina visits the greenhouses to tell Clary about the instructions and that Mayor Cole has been hoarding the city’s supplies. Later, in Lina’s bedroom, Clary notices that she has a sprout on the bean plant she gave her, and says new life amazes her every time. Clary sees the instructions and believes that Egres in the title must mean “Egress,” a way out. Buoyed by Clary’s discovery, Lina and Doon pore over the message, filling in more of the fragmented and missing words. In step 2, they piece together information about a stone marked with the letter “E,” believing it must stand for “Exit.” In step 4, they conclude that a “door” and its “key” can be found by the river’s “ledge.”

Closer to solving the puzzle, Lina and Doon agree to work quickly and share their findings in two days at the Singing, an annual event where citizens join to sing Ember’s three great songs. That night, Doon is tempted to share their recent discoveries with his father but opts to save this for the big reveal at Singing, believing it will have a greater impact. As Doon drifts to sleep, in his mind’s eye he sees the wrinkled rocks resembling words in the Pipeworks’s west end and realizes this is the likely location of the “E” for “Exit.”

Analysis: Chapters 11–13

Lina grows up quickly in the wake of her grandmother’s death, and her newfound maturity allows her to look ahead to her new life and to put her old one in perspective. It also allows her to see people like Lizzie, who played a role in her old life, more clearly. Lina is brave enough to confront Lizzie about the cans, but temporarily reverts back to her old self when she is tempted by Lizzie’s offer. This time Lina stands strong against temptation, unlike the day when she bought the colored pencils. When she tells Lizzie that she and Looper are in the wrong, it is clear that Lina is looking forward rather than prioritizing relationships that are no longer working for her.

Lizzie and Looper represent the crumbling of the social order that holds Ember together. Their prioritization of their own pleasure stands in stark contrast to the other citizens of Ember, and their cynicism leads them to behave with recklessness and greed. The actions of the seventh mayor make it clear that greed is not uncommon among those in power in Ember, and it seems likely at this point that the current mayor is not a moral person either. Looper, however, is a mere employee of the Supply Depot, and Lizzie has even lower status than he does. The fact that these two average citizens are engaged in immoral activities suggests that the cracks to the foundation of Ember’s social order run deep, and foreshadow Doon’s big discovery about the mayor.

Doon’s impulse to tell the whole city about the mayor’s hidden storage room highlights how immature he still is. Lina has begun to check her impulses, but Doon still reacts before thinking things through. Lina is also willing to make Clary privy to their secret, not merely because Clary is an adult, but because she knows that Clary is an adult they can trust. Doon does not extend that same trust to his father, however, even though he knows that his father is worthy of trust. Doon is still caught up in his own childish narrative about becoming a hero.

Previous section Chapters 7–10 Next section Chapters 14 & 15