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18. Fifteen Minutes Later; Two Hours Later; Ten Minutes After That
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Everything, Everything, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
Trust and Lies
Family, Abuse, and Bravery
The Value of Experience
Summary
Analysis
Maddy begs Carla again to let Olly visit, but Carla says flatly that they can’t always get what they want. Maddy knows this is something she must say to Rosa all the time. As Carla leaves for the day, she says she hates telling Maddy no. Hurriedly, Maddy says that Olly could get decontaminated and sit far away from her for 15 minutes. Carla points out that Mom won’t allow it, but Maddy says they don’t have to tell her. Disappointed, Carla asks if it’s really so easy for girls to lie to their mothers.
Carla likely recognizes that Maddy doesn’t feel comfortable letting Mom in on this—and that wanting to keep this quiet is a normal part of Maddy’s development. The point here isn’t necessarily that Maddy is lying to Mom; it’s that she’s at a point where gaining experience feels more important than remaining truthful with someone who won’t be thrilled with a perfectly normal thing that Maddy wants to do.
Themes
