Full Measures

In the opening chapter, Ember’s mother, June, refuses to answer the three knocks on the front door early in the morning. It’s way too early for Gus’s ride to soccer practice or any other routine knock, so she instinctively knows what the knocks mean. The door separates her and her family from the certainty of irreversible tragedy, representing the threshold between life before and after devastating loss. The novel establishes this immediately, as June refuses to engage, so the door symbolizes the denial of a reality that one isn’t ready to face.

Ember’s decision to ignore her mother’s plea and open the door to face the uniformed soldiers is her first step in facing her fears. She prematurely assumes adult responsibility when her mother is unable to do so. Fully understanding the gravity of her action, Ember reflects, “I had opened the door to a fire, and it was poised to decimate my family” (4). This imagery conveys her realization that what awaits the family on the other side of the door isn’t just an interruption but a destructive force that will reshape their lives completely. The symbol thematically reinforces