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Chapter 7
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Cloud Atlas, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cycles of History
Greed
Slavery and Imprisonment
Aging and Mortality
Summary
Analysis
Timothy Cavendish wakes in a daze, finding himself connected to a feeding IV. He doesn’t have his full memory back and soon drifts back into unconsciousness. It takes a couple days before he’s more lucid. Mrs. Judd informs him he’s had a stroke. Timothy describes the process of putting himself back together as a task of “Tolstoyan” proportions. He realizes that no one other than Denholme knows he’s in Aurora House, and so he’s on his own to escape.
Timothy Cavendish’s story picks up after the cliffhanger at the end of his first chapter, revealing that it was indeed a stroke, though he managed to survive it. As always, Timothy tries to understand his situation through books and other media, here referencing the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy wrote long books with a focus on human psychology.
Themes
Miserable in his confinement, Timothy tries to find some escapism by reading Half-Lives. He imagines himself publishing the book and seeing it at convenience store checkout lines. He intends to make some edits, however, such as removing the hippie idea that Luisa Rey is a reincarnated version of Robert Frobisher. But he has to stop editing when he realizes his manuscript runs out of pages right after Luisa’s car drives off a bridge.
Timothy once again makes fun of the very novel he appears in, suggesting that the concept of reincarnation is some hippie fantasy. While Timothy tries to forget his current situation through escapism, even this fails—as he doesn’t have the rest of Luisa’s story, he ends up “trapped” in a different way, at a cliffhanger.
Themes
Ernie Blacksmith and Veronica Costello are two other patients at Aurora House. Ernie is a Scottish man who finds ways to smuggle in alcohol, and he and Veronica both tolerate Timothy’s grumpiness. Ernie used to repair boilers and was a locksmith too. Timothy tells them about his past as a publisher. While Ernie and Veronica seem skeptical about some details, they listen attentively. While they’re talking, Ernie happens to mention how Mr. Hotchkiss, the son of the one of Aurora House’s residents, always leaves his keys in the ignition to his vehicle when he comes to visit his mother.
Timothy’s new friends suggest that, despite all his complaints about Aurora House, he has at least found other people to commiserate with. Ernie’s attention to the key in Mr. Hotchkiss’s car’s ignition suggests that Timothy isn’t the only one who has been considering an escape from Aurora House—it also suggests that Ernie might have some skills that will prove useful for such an escape attempt.
Themes
Timothy devises his first escape plan. He sneaks over to the phone and calls his publishing company (which goes to voicemail), then his sister-in-law, asking to speak to Denholme. He learns from her that Denholme is dead and that he missed the funeral. Before he can figure out what’s going on, Mrs. Noakes cuts his line.
Denholme’s death is a strange interlude in the story, simultaneously connecting Timothy to his old life for a moment while also illustrating how hopelessly far away that life is from his current situation.
Themes
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Later, during a breakfast, while Timothy is still reeling from Denholme’s death, Mrs. Noakes say she’s disappointed to announce that there is a thief in Aurora House. As a result, she puts Timothy on probation. Timothy bides his time playing cards with Ernie and Veronica. Timothy complains that Ernie has become a quitter, afraid to see the outside world again. Ernie, however, claims he has a perfect plan and could escape any time he wants to. Ernie leaves, angry with Timothy.
Timothy feels confused and has mixed feelings about Denholme’s death (since Denholme is the one who trapped Timothy in Aurora House in the first place). Since he has no other way to express his frustration, Timothy takes it out on Ernie, perhaps accidentally hitting too close to home when he accuses Ernie of being afraid of the outside world—or perhaps Timothy is projecting his own fear of the outside world onto Ernie.
Themes
It’s the week of Christmas, and Ernie remains angry with Timothy, while Veronica has sympathy for Timothy but stays with Ernie. Timothy fantasizes about meeting the author of Half-Lives and getting to read the rest of it. The Christmas meal is disappointing. Timothy considers dropping his grudge against Ernie but doesn’t. Instead, he tries to get the reverend (who is there for Christmas mass) involved in a scheme to get out of Aurora House. He asks for the reverend’s help in sending out a letter to his sister, slipping a note into the reverend’s pocket.
Timothy isn’t willing to swallow his pride and try to make amends with Ernie, so instead he decides to try to act on his own. Trying to recruit the reverend as an unwilling accomplice, Timothy makes one last desperate attempt to reach the outside world in a way that Mrs. Noakes won’t be able to intercept.
Themes
Timothy dreams about seeing Ursula when he’s out. But he’s disappointed when he wakes up on Christmas and finds his letter all torn up, apparently intercepted by Mrs. Noakes. Timothy feels like giving up.
The ripped-up letter suggests that either Mrs. Noakes witnessed Timothy giving the letter to the reverend, or the reverend himself took the letter to Mrs. Noakes.
Themes
On Boxing Day, Timothy, Ernie, and Veronica finally all reconcile. Timothy puts aside his pride to apologize, and Ernie, after some hesitation, invites him to join an escape plan that he has hatched with Veronica. The plan takes place in two days, on the 28th, when Mrs. Judd will be away with her nieces.
Ultimately, the selfish Timothy grows from his setbacks by finally finding the courage to apologize to Ernie. This ends up being a smart decision, because he, Ernie, and Veronica can accomplish much more together than they can apart.
Themes
The 28th comes. Timothy sets the plan in motion by using a stolen cell phone to call Mr. Hotchkiss and tell him his mother is seriously ill, convincing Mr. Hotchkiss to come right away. The second step involves Ernie reporting to Mrs. Noakes that Timothy has died. They stage a fake dead Timothy with pillows under a blanket. Timothy’s room has an external lock, so they trap Mrs. Noakes inside when she comes to check on the supposed body.
This passage is one of many in the novel that plays with the tropes of fiction about escaping. Timothy and his partners rely on old but proven tricks like using pillows under the blanket to hide their absence, perhaps suggesting more broadly that some cliches become cliches for a reason: because they work.
Themes
Mr. Hotchkiss arrives with his wife at reception and is angry that he can’t see his mother yet. Veronica pretends to be a friend of his mother and invites him in past reception, saying the doctor is busy. Ernie and Timothy get into the car, but Ernie realizes there’s no key—Mrs. Hotchkiss took the keys in. Just then, Veronica comes out with some keys that she got from Mrs. Hotchkiss. People realize what’s going on, and Mr. Hotchkiss comes back and bangs on the car window. But Timothy starts the ignition and drives off.
The setback with the keys reveals how even the best plans aren’t foolproof. Although Ernie and Timothy seem to be the main architects of the plan, Veronica makes an important contribution by showing up with the keys, emphasizing the value of cooperation and how each person in a group makes their own contributions. By banding together, Timothy, Ernie, and Veronica seem to succeed in doing what the fabricants of the previous chapter could not.
Themes
Timothy says he’ll distract their pursuers so that Ernie can get out and pick the lock on the gate. But Ernie says they only have one option: to ram the gate head on. He lied about being able to pick an electric lock and always planned on ramming their way out—he just didn’t want Timothy to panic. Veronica finds it all thrilling. Timothy aims the car toward the gate and accelerates. The car smashes through, and then Timothy slams the brakes. The car stops safely on the other side of the gate.
The violent crash of the car through the gate suggests that sometimes it’s necessary to use force. The car’s smashing of the gate also recalls how Luisa Rey’s VW smashed over the railing of the bridge, showing how a destructive act in one context becomes a productive one in a slightly different context.
Themes
Timothy knows his way around, so he navigates with no problem. He, Ernie, and Veronica make their way to a gas station next to a pub. They park in the pub (so no one sees the car at the gas station), and Ernie goes to get a can of gas. Then they all enter the pub, which is packed with people wildly cheering for a soccer match of England vs. Scotland, and they check their map. While they’re inside, they see Mr. Hotchkiss and other people from Aurora House outside.
Ernie is Scottish and Timothy is from London, but they nevertheless come together to collaborate on an escape plan. This tension between Scotland and England humorously plays out in the background as people watch a soccer match between England and Scotland.
Themes
There’s no escape, but the Scottish Ernie gets up and says that some Englishmen have come in to take his rights away. The Scottish soccer fans turn off the TV and face the intruders. Mr. Hotchkiss says something rude to them, and someone knocks his tooth out. Ernie, Veronica, and Timothy make an escape and drive away.
Just as Ernie and Timothy collaborated, now Ernie appeals to the sympathy of some complete strangers to convinces the Scottish pubgoers to help him, successfully using his Scottish identity to appeal to their sympathies.
Themes
Timothy, Ernie, and Veronica make it to Glasgow, where Ernie has Mr. Hotchkiss’s car scrapped. In Glasgow, Timothy parts ways with Ernie and Veronica. Timothy tries to contact his old secretary, who fills him in on what happened. Dermot’s brothers tore apart his publishing company after he failed to provide the money. The destruction was caught on video, and the secretary made a deal with the brothers: in exchange for not sending out the video and giving the brothers a share of future royalties, the brothers will give up on trying to get Timothy. Best of all, a Hollywood studio has optioned Knuckle Sandwich.
Timothy’s story ends happily. Although he will have to readjust to his old life, things seem to be going his way, with the Hollywood option for Knuckle Sandwich suggesting that Timothy’s publishing success may only continue to grow. Facing his mortality in the nursing home, and with it, the possibility of becoming forgotten and irrelevant, Timothy devotes himself to his work with renewed vigor.
Themes
Timothy ponders his future. He figures that if Dermot can write a bestseller, maybe Timothy can too. He also sends an email to the author of Half-Lives to try to get the rest of the manuscript. Timothy returns to his work and tries to avoid becoming prematurely “Undead,” like a nursing home resident.
The ending of Timothy’s story neatly sets up how he will read the ending of the Luisa Rey novel, setting up the next chapter in Cloud Atlas.
Themes
