All the Water in the World

Hancock is the largest and most advanced settlement that has appeared in the book thus far. It seems, at first glance, like an area of safety and stability. However, this is an illusion—it operates under an oppressive debt-based indenture system that keeps people in the thrall of the settlement’s leader, Childs. This sentiment is shared by Mary and Hancock’s doctor, Esther, who tries to hide Keller, Bix, and Nonie from Childs. When she fails, she reveals only Keller’s illness, not Bix’s infected leg. Childs says that he can get work from Keller, and that will earn him his treatment. He doesn’t mention what uses he might have for Bix. The settlement structure is portrayed as akin to a capitalism, wherein basic needs require work, even when it’s difficult or not strictly necessary. People are indebted without even knowing it, at times, just as Keller is supposedly enlisted into work.

Unlike other threatening male characters, Childs has a soft and kind affect. Nonie reflects on a lesson her mother taught her about how some men use sex and love to hurt and oppress people. When Childs looks at Nonie, she feels that from within him, as he seeks to own and control, not protect. This is evident when Mary disrespects Childs after he takes Keller’s antibiotics away, so he has her beaten and imprisoned. Watching this furthers Nonie’s growing understanding of the world’s different relationships and troubles. As the group makes its escape, Childs tracks them until Darling kills him. The reason Esther cries is that despite her desire to escape Childs and willingness to fight him, she helped him build Hancock, and they shared some kind of bond. Additionally, Darling experiences a loss of innocence akin to Bix’s, suggesting that people can’t escape the world’s harshness without it negatively affecting their personality or morals.

When they arrive at the farm, Bix and Keller dismount the wagon and walk the last stretch. They’ve been on such a long and grueling journey that they see it as a point of pride to make it by themselves. However, the farm is dilapidated. None of Mother and Father’s friends or relatives made it up north. They don’t see this as cause to turn away, though; instead, the group sees the potential for what it will be, thus thematically resolving The Importance of Building a Future. They rebuild the farm, and it becomes a better version of Amen. They take in travelers, build lodging for the sick, and allow new members to join. They incorporate all the best aspects of the communities they’ve encountered without insular baggage. The logbooks and photos from Nonie’s mother still exist, and the novel never thematically abandons The Importance of Preserving Knowledge and Culture; it simply reaffirms that supporting people and community is more important than preserving artifacts of culture and natural history. Nonie is confident in maintaining this delicate balance between past and future, and by the novel’s end, she’s ready to move on to the next step in her journey.

Nonie learns that Esther receives visits from a crewmember of the Sally Ride who affirms the hope that Nonie has carried throughout the text, and provides her with another lasting connection to her mother by offering to take her back to the ship to join the crew.

The novel depicts Mother as focused on the future, like Nonie, and wanting her family to be safe at the farm while Nonie became a scientist. This dream is finally realized: Bix marries and settles down at the farm, while Nonie later joins the Sally Ride crew. This couldn’t have happened without the care and aid of others, which Caffall presents as crucial. Nonie thinks about what the crew member told her when offering her a position and reflects, “You cannot always be in Leningrad. You are allowed to hope for something that doesn’t just save, something that builds” (231). This returns to the motif of the Hermitage Museum that her parents often touted. While she admires that museum’s staff just as her parents did, she feels that it reflects an attitude many took to climate change: sitting, waiting as things got worse, wishing that someone else would save them. Instead, Nonie fully embraces a proactive stance, which she considers essential to building a future.