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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Great Alone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Violence
Paranoia and the Vietnam War
Isolation
Family and Community
Death and Grief
Coming of Age
Summary
Analysis
Leni is getting ready for her first day of school, a process she finds rather stressful. She has always had trouble fitting in and she doubts that a school in Kaneq, Alaska will be any different. Her embarrassment is magnified because she feels obligated to wear the unstylish clothes given to her by her father and to use a Winnie the Pooh lunch box gifted to her by Thelma. Ernt drives Leni to school, although she asks him to drop her off where they cannot be seen together.
A key component of The Great Alone is Leni’s attempt to live the normal life of a teenager under such strange and dangerous conditions. In this passage, she once again proves willing to sacrifice her own happiness for that of others, though she does draw a line by making Ernt drop her off before they reach school.
Themes
Leni walks into her new classroom expecting the worst, but quickly makes friends with a boy named Matthew. The two of them bond over their mutual love of reading, particularly The Lord of the Rings and Dune. Leni’s heart skips a beat when Matthew calls her pretty and invites her to a community barbecue at his house. Leni worries her father will not let her come because he always hated community events in the past. However, on their drive home, Leni notices that Ernt is more open to being a part of a community since moving to Alaska.
Books play a key role in Leni’s life and until this moment, she’s never bonded with anyone over a book before. Leni’s reading habits change throughout the book depending on her mood and age. The sci-fi and fantasy epics that define this stage of her life are characterized by hope and the overcoming of evil. However, Leni’s life does not follow a similar path. Meanwhile, though she is happy that her father is more open to being a part of a community, his previous experiences and his affinity with Earl suggest that this might not be the case for long.
Themes
When Leni arrives home, she sees Cora preparing salmon. When Cora asks her about school, Leni tells her about Matthew and the barbecue. Cora is excited that Leni made a friend and tells her that she and Ernt received the same invitation. To Leni’s delight, her parents plan to attend. Later in the day, Leni stresses herself out while getting ready. She is unsure of what to wear and she is worried about how Ernt will behave at the barbecue. Previously, Ernt attacked a man at a state fair because he flirted with Cora. Leni knows her mother is beautiful and worries about similar incidents in the future.
Here, a darker side of Ernt—the side Mrs. Golliher and Marge fear—starts to show itself. Other than his actions as a soldier, this is the first specific instance in the novel of Ernt acting violently toward others. Meanwhile, Leni continues to go through experiences common to a teenager, such as figuring out what to wear.
Themes
The Allbright family drives to the barbecue together. Eventually they arrive at a beautiful two-story log house. The Allbrights park and join the party at the beach where they find a number of friendly faces, including Marge and Leni’s teacher, Ms. Rhodes. Before long, Tom Walker comes and introduces himself to the Allbrights. Tom is Matthew’s father as well as the owner of the impressive property. Although Tom means well, he immediately makes a bad impression with Ernt by saying he heard the Allbrights arrived in Alaska unprepared. He tells Ernt he is happy to help with whatever the Allbrights need, but Ernt is already angry. Tom is also single, and Leni worries about the interest he takes in Cora.
Leni’s fears show themselves to be legitimate, as Ernt immediately takes issue with Tom. In fact, things may be even worse than she imagined, as the man Ernt has a problem with is her new friend’s father. Because Ernt fancies himself a self-reliant man, his pride is wounded when Tom suggests that he might need help. It also quickly becomes clear that Ernt is repelled by Tom’s wealth and—as with Cora’s parents—he refuses to take anything from him. Given that Leni’s worries have so far been accurate, her fear that Tom will take an interest in Cora should carry extra weight.
Themes
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After meeting Tom, Leni hears Matthew calling her name. The two teenagers run off into the woods and share their first beer together. Leni is glad to finally be around someone her own age, although she does not feel she can be completely honest with Matthew about her family’s circumstances. After talking about their families for a while, Leni and Matthew head back to the beach where they overhear Ernt and Earl talking negatively about Matthew’s father. Ernt and Earl think Tom is condescending and both seem disgusted by the fact that he was born into money. Although Matthew does not appear to be bothered by what he hears, Leni is mortified, and she worries that Alaska will not have the positive effect on her father she had hoped for.
Here, Leni gets to experience something close to a typical teenage experience: running off in the woods to drink with a friend. Though she likes Matthew, Leni struggles to place trust in anyone except for her mother and therefore does not tell him what her father is really like. Ironically, he soon finds out anyway, although he doesn’t care. In the meantime, Leni’s utopic vision of Alaskan life begins to crumble, as she realizes that her father has already begun to regress.
Themes
