28 pages • 56 minutes read
Megan HunterThe End We Start From
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Motherhood as a Metaphor for the End of the World
Throughout The End We Start From, the narrator’s experience with motherhood is a metaphor for the end of the world, interweaving her personal journey with the broader environmental crisis unfolding around her. The story’s opening sentence immediately draws parallels between the inevitability of childbirth and the climate crisis, suggesting that both events are surreal yet inevitable. This juxtaposition highlights the human tendency to ignore impending disasters until they become immediate and tangible, underscoring the dystopian nature of the narrator’s reality. The protagonist’s reflections on her pregnancy and impending childbirth mirror the escalating chaos of a world ravaged by flooding and ecological collapse, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the personal and planetary experience.
The narrator’s interactions with her newborn son, Z reinforce this theme. While they form a deep and loving bond, the narrator is intensely aware of how her perspective and sense of self have changed since becoming a mother. She observes that “it is only humans and monkeys who let the fetus feed from their own blood supply. Only humans and monkeys who let their young release themselves back into the mother, float themselves into her, minute explorers” (117). When she reads a news article that claims scientists have discovered children’s cells living in their mothers’ brains, the headline resonates with her and she imagines her son “spread across my mother’s brain, a sealed film, a complete covering” (117). In this respect, becoming a mother ends her world as she knows it, but not in a negative or destructive sense; instead, she feels an intense connection to her son. Just as the flood waters change, Z’s birth redefines her existence and prompts her to explore her new reality and identity as a mother. Her experience with motherhood also lends new meaning to the title The End We Start From; where endings are often seen as tragic or unpleasant because of their finality, the narrator’s journey proves that endings can also offer new and hopeful beginnings.
In this context, the escalating and receding floodwaters parallel her journey through pregnancy and motherhood, highlighting the dual nature of water as both comforting and threatening. As she goes into labor amid the chaos of the flood, she confronts the irony of her birth plan, which envisioned a soothing water birth. As a force of nature, water can be guided but not controlled, and the disrupted birth plan represents the way the climate crisis will impact humanity, regardless of any carefully made plans. Through perilous flood scenes and peaceful boating scenes, the water emerges as both joyful and dangerous, embodying the full spectrum of nature’s power. Femininity and water are often linked in literature, and here, the narrator survives through fluidity; she adapts to changes, using her intuition to guide her course. The value of this path is represented in Z’s joy while in the boat with his mother—and by equal measure, his discomfort when his father is present in the final boat scene. Born from the water of the womb, water becomes an enduring way of uniting mother and child in the face of overwhelming odds.
The Healing Power of Female Friendship
The healing power of female friendship also emerges as a significant aspect of the narrative, shaping the protagonist’s experiences and providing her with crucial support amid the challenges of a dystopian world. Through her interactions with other women, particularly her friendship with O, the protagonist finds solace, companionship, and strength, highlighting the transformative power of female bonds in times of crisis. This stands in contrast to the narrator’s relationship with her husband, R, whom she loves but is absent for most of the narrative.
From the moment they meet in a refugee camp, O is a source of comfort and companionship for the narrator, offering emotional support and solidarity during their shared struggles. Their friendship encourages the narrator to redefine her conceptualization of female friendship and realize that she does not have to identify with the cliques of mothers she used to see in London to find a connection with other mothers. She is emotionally fulfilled by their interactions, another beacon of light for the narrator to guide her through the dark world. Their friendship also helps them survive as they navigate the challenges of motherhood and environmental disaster together. O’s presence provides the narrator with a camaraderie and shared purpose, helping her cope with uncertainty and fear. As they travel together and forge a new life together on the island, the two women form a bond that is nourishing and intimate, symbolized by their nursing each other’s babies.
Because they both feel abandoned by their husbands and are left to care for their babies on their own, their friendship becomes a source of mutual resilience and hope, enabling them to endure even the most difficult circumstances. They embrace the alternative family structure enabled by their time on the island, living a more communal life with horizontal power dynamics. While there is a man in this situation, the women teach each other different skills and care for one another, contrasting deeply with the narrator’s life with her husband and in-laws. This safety and support among these women empowers the narrator to leave and find her husband. Even when she chooses to leave, O displays unselfish friendship and solidarity by offering practical support and good-natured teasing, which encourages the narrator to make her own choices and rest in the knowledge that she is loved by her friend.
The Vulnerability and Resilience of Humanity
Throughout The End We Start From, the protagonist’s experiences highlight the vulnerability of humanity in the face of natural disasters. As she grapples with the uncertainty of her future and the safety of her newborn son, she is confronted with the harsh realities of a world in turmoil. The flooding that devastates London reinforces this theme by embodying the fragility of human civilization and exposing the inherent vulnerability of society to the forces of nature.
The narrator makes choices that underscore the fragility of human existence while also celebrating the remarkable capacity for resilience and adaptation. For example, bringing a new life into a world on the brink of collapse highlights the inherent vulnerability of the human experience. As she reflects on the helplessness of her son Z, the narrator sees parallels between newborn babies and adult humans grappling with the full force of nature. Many characters illustrate the relative helplessness of humans; her in-laws are killed in crowd crushes, her husband develops a debilitating fear of crowds, and both R and N crumble under the weight of their grief. Despite these examples of vulnerability, the narrator repeatedly makes courageous and selfless decisions to support and protect her son. She also becomes a source of comfort and strength for others, particularly R and N, who rely on her after G’s death.
Different characters represent different methods of enduring crisis, showing the variety of the human spirit. R chooses to adventure out on his own; the narrative doesn’t show what he experiences on his own, but he survives until the end. While his decision forces his wife and child to persist without him, their reunion at the end shows that this is just one of many choices a person could make. By contrast, the narrator bands together with other women to survive, showing the resilience that can come from working together. While the women don’t feel safe on their own, the narrator and O feel able to journey north together, and they support each other in their journey’s perils like being strip-searched by the guards. Their behavior highlights another aspect of human behavior—taking advantage of others—that can manifest in times of crisis. Despite this, the women stay strong, enduring their mistreatment to make it to their safe haven. Hunter asserts that even if misogyny persists into the future, it will not break women.
Humanity’s resilience is consistently symbolized by Z’s developmental milestones. No matter what happens, Z ages and grows—he smiles, rolls over, and cuts his first tooth. His growth marks time in an otherwise unmoored narrative, showing how people persist and grow even in times of crisis. This is cemented in the novel’s final scene, where he takes his first steps in his ruined bedroom, literally and figuratively walking into a more hopeful future.
