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Chapter 63
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
They arrive at a river with a small electric motorboat waiting for them. Nicole wakes Agnes and they make their way down the bank. Although Agnes is many years older, Nicole feels like the older sister in that moment, as she realizes they are entering the world with which she is familiar and which Agnes knows nothing about. They climb aboard the small vessel that takes them down the Penobscot River. The driver remarks that people this far out hate the Eyes, so no one will snoop on them even if they are spotted in the dark. Before long, they reach their final vessel, a larger boat called the Nellie J. Banks, waiting for them beyond the mouth of the river.
The transition between worlds causes the roles to effectively reverse between the older and young sister, suggesting that such roles are in part signified by one’s level of experience in the world and ability to make their way. The larger boat is named after a famous Canadian schooner that smuggled alcohol during the prohibition era—such vessels were known as “rum-runners”—in Nova Scotia in the early 20th century, which suggests that it is a boat used for smuggling.
Themes
