Previous Next

Chapters 16 & 17

Summary: Chapter 16: The Singing

The city guards quickly catch Lina and march her to the Gathering Hall to face Mayor Cole, who says her behavior is dangerous and disloyal. His actions, he adds, have all been for the greater good of the city. Lina rejects his propaganda, however, and calls him out for lying. Enraged, Mayor Cole tells Lina she will be locked in the Prison Room, but just as he motions for his guards, there’s a blackout. 

Lina uses the cover of darkness to escape and heads for the roof, foiling the guards who believe she has left the hall at ground level. As Lina reaches the rooftop, Ember’s lights return, and Singing begins. She listens to her fellow citizens sing “The Song of the City” and “The Song of the River” and then joins in “The Song of Darkness,” just as another blackout strikes. In the distance, Lina spots a tiny flame and knows it must be Doon, lighting his way toward the Pipeworks with a candle. Lina then jumps to the Prison Room roof and then onto solid ground, where she decides to locate Mrs. Murdo and Poppy before reconnecting with Doon.

Summary: Chapter 17: Away

Doon leaves his hiding spot at Ember School, believing it best to head for the Pipeworks despite not knowing Lina’s whereabouts. He writes a note to his father, informing him that he found Ember’s exit in the Pipeworks, and then pins it to a kiosk in Selverton Square. As Doon lights his way down Gappery Street, Lina approaches, carrying Poppy, and Doon is surprised by relieved to see them both. At the Pipeworks, they manage to lower the boat into the river, tie it to a metal rod, and pack it with supplies. Once all three children are safely aboard, Doon pulls the rope free, and they shoot downriver.

Analysis: Chapters 16 & 17

It is a stroke of irony that Lina the messenger neglects to deliver to Clary the most important message of all, and it indicates how dramatically Lina’s priorities have shifted. Ever since Assignment Day, Lina has both defined herself by and reveled in her duties as a messenger. Even though the messages she ferried back and forth across the city were primarily of little consequence, she took her job seriously and enjoyed the fast pace and learning new things. Her haste to leave Ember leads her to forget this one last delivery because her position as messenger is no longer as innate to her as her role as Poppy’s sister and savior. 

Lina’s new role as Poppy’s protector represents that it often necessary for family structures to shift in order to survive. Just as Lina cared for Granny after her the death of her parents, Mrs. Murdo took over for Lina in the wake of Granny’s death. The relative ease with which Mrs. Murdo took on a new family suggests that shifting familial roles are commonplace in Ember, and likely due to necessity. The story does not detail what happened to Doon’s mother, but it is clear that Doon and has father have crafted a functional life for the two of them. The success of these families in flux suggests that it is both possible and necessary to reevaluate family roles, and foreshadows the family unit that Lina, Poppy, and Doon will become.

Lina bases her decision to bring Poppy on the logical conclusion that Ember was not safe for her, but pure animal instinct guides her to protect Poppy along the way. That same instinct leads her to trust Doon to help her do so. Their human curiosity may lead the two of them to stop and wonder what will happen during parts of their journey together, but their innate alertness to the presence of danger insures that they never pause for so long that they lose their nerve to take the next necessary step, even if they are not fully confident in what the outcome will be. Now is the time for action, and both Lina and Doon will take whatever action is necessary to ensure the immediate safety of their trio.

The dramatic imagery of the children’s journey down the river illustrates the extraordinary leap of faith that Lina and Doon have taken. They did not make the decision to leave Ember and dive into the unknown lightly, and the stakes are extremely high. The level of danger is also extremely high, and the roar of the water, the “violent” thrashing of the boat, and the utter darkness are physical indicators of the complex emotions that Lina and Doon have no time to process while their boat hurtles down the river. Like the waters that relentlessly push them forward, their leap of faith is irrevocable and absolute. There is no going back.

 

Previous section Chapters 14 & 15 Next section Chapters 18–20

Take a Study Break