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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Testaments, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Religious Totalitarianism and Hypocrisy
Gender Roles
Truth, Knowledge, and Power
Shame, Fear, and Repression
Choice
Summary
Analysis
Daisy and Ada leave the Quaker church, driving a different vehicle than the one they arrived in, and go to a large, old mansion called Carnarvon in a seedy part of Toronto. As they get out and walk inside, Daisy feels dizzy and uncertain, as if “the world was no longer solid and dependable.” Ada steadies her by the arm and brings her inside, explaining that this place was once a rich person’s summer home and has been converted into a boarding house. They go upstairs to an apartment with an electronic lock. Daisy is feeling even worse, so she lays down on the sofa with a blanket.
Daisy’s dizziness and feeling that the world has become uncertain briefly foreshadows the revelation that both she and the reader are about to receive about her true identity. Ada’s knowledge of seedy parts of Toronto and derelict boarding houses not only the deepen the mystery surrounding the past several hours, but further suggests that Ada is involved in underground activity of some sort.
Themes
When Daisy awakens, she finds the TV on. News of The Clothes Hound bombing is on the TV, but Daisy turns off the sound. Ada’s made dinner for Daisy, but she’s not hungry. Ada also bought chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, Daisy’s favorites, though she wonders how Ada could know that. Daisy is still sick, so she lays back down on the sofa and falls asleep to the sound of Ada moving around and making phone calls.
Ada’s knowledge of Daisy’s favorite foods implies that she has far more knowledge of Daisy than Daisy has of her, suggesting that Ada has been keeping tabs in Daisy in some way, for some reason. This once again implies that Neil and Melanie were oddly secretive for a reason, that they have been hiding something from Daisy.
Themes
