55 pages • 1-hour read
Tilt
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Chapters 17-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death, and child death.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Early Evening: Columbus Elementary School, 12th & Stark, SE Portland”
Annie approaches Columbus Elementary School and sees that the south side is flattened and the north side is tilted. She pushes through crowds of worried parents and crying children, searching frantically for Taylor who has disappeared into the crowd. Annie eventually finds Taylor aggressively questioning a red-haired girl about Gabby. Annie intervenes as Taylor, emotionally overwhelmed, expresses despair over not finding Gabby and describes her clothing and Moana necklace.
Annie and Taylor frantically search the school grounds using Gabby’s picture. Taylor spots a small body that is lying under a yellow rain poncho and wearing pink sneakers that are similar to Gabby’s. She breaks down, asking Annie to look and see if it’s Gabby while Taylor averts her gaze. Annie lifts the poncho and discovers that the deceased child is not Gabby, and Taylor shakes with relief. Meanwhile, another mother discovers her deceased child, Ava, under the poncho and wails in grief. A woman with glasses and a radio attempts to manage the chaos as Annie, Taylor, and Ava’s mother grieve together, holding Ava’s body among the debris as children’s drawings scatter across the grounds.
Chapter 18 Summary: “My Mother’s Last Night”
Annie recalls her final text-message exchange with her mother from January 4, 2020. Her mother reported feeling sick and tired, and Annie replied asking her to get some rest. Now, she regrets not expressing more affection and wonders if she told her mother that she loved her. Annie obsesses over these texts, reflecting on how frequently she reread them before losing her phone in the IKEA debris.
Annie considers asking her cell phone company to retrieve these irreplaceable last messages, imagining a frustrating, bureaucratic conversation that would likely lead nowhere.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Golden Hour: Columbus Elementary School, 12th & Stark, SE Portland”
In the hour approaching sunset, Taylor clings to Annie as the crowd at Columbus Elementary grows more frantic and a rescue worker pleads for calm. Taylor states that Gabby must be inside the collapsed school and resolves to enter despite Annie’s attempts to dissuade her. Annie suddenly feels Bean kick; Taylor asks if she can feel Bean, and Annie places Taylor’s hand on her belly. Taylor becomes emotional while feeling Bean kicking and steps away to stand by herself. Annie feels stressed and unhappy at the sorrow and destruction around her; she closes her eyes to briefly recall peaceful memories with Dom.
The red-haired girl whom Taylor was talking to earlier approaches Annie and, noticing the caterpillar toy, begins to talk about caterpillars. Annie plays the green caterpillar toy’s melody before giving it to the girl, who joyfully reunites with her mother moments later. Later, Annie finds Taylor near a damaged school entrance. A man in a helmet is talking to her and describing a small crawlspace into the building. Taylor tells Annie that they need someone small (like her) who can fit into the crawlspace, and she has volunteered to enter the building to see if any children are trapped inside. She says that she feels like Gabby is alive. Annie silently accepts Taylor’s decision to enter the building, sensing that she will not return. Taylor puts on the helmet and enters the debris-filled hallway, her yellow shirt disappearing into the darkness.
Chapter 20 Summary: “2 Months Ago”
Two months before the earthquake, Annie and Dom visit Seaside, Oregon, for their modest “babymoon” amid financial constraints and relationship tensions. On the rainy beach, Annie crouches to touch the ocean despite Dom’s caution about sneaker waves. They share an embrace and kiss, briefly rekindling intimacy before discussing dinner plans. Dom points out a dead sperm whale washed ashore, and they join others who are looking at it. Annie reflects on her mother’s love for whales.
While walking back distracted, a sneaker wave suddenly overtakes them, knocking Annie down and pulling her into the surf, where she loses a shoe. Dom struggles through the water to reach her as she is thrashed by the current. The tide recedes, leaving Annie soaked, cold, and shaken as Dom helps her from the water, visibly relieved at her safety despite the frightening incident.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Sunset: 12th & Alder, SE Portland”
Back in the present, Annie leaves the school and walks toward the Morrison Bridge, determined to reach Dom. She observes the damaged city skyline, debris in the river, and desperate people attempting river crossings. The Morrison Bridge is blocked by two tanks and armed soldiers declaring it closed to civilians.
Annie pushes to the front and pleads with guards to let her cross, explaining her pregnancy and saying that her husband is in Old Town. The older guard firmly refuses, eventually telling her that Old Town is flattened. An aftershock occurs, shaking the bridge violently and throwing Annie against the guard. Devastated by the news that she cannot reach Dom, Annie turns back when the guard yells at her to go home.
Chapter 22 Summary: “Last Month”
Annie recalls an encounter at a farmers market from the previous month with her former artistic director and mentor. The director’s praise for Annie’s former talent makes her feel inadequate as they awkwardly discuss her pregnancy. When asked about her mother, Annie reveals her death during the pandemic. When the director inquires if Annie is still writing, she lies and says she is. After parting, Annie cries on the sidewalk, reflecting on her abandoned creative ambitions.
In the present, Annie tries to explain to Bean that she was forced to abandon her art for practical reasons. She describes her own mother as an artist who crafted papier-mâché birds, recounting her intense preparation before a craft fair. For weeks, after work, her mother worked for hours crafting the birds. However, not a single bird sold at the craft fair, and Annie noticed that her mother was trying not to cry. After her mother’s death, Annie found three of the remaining birds and took them with her. Recently, while preparing Bean’s nursery, Annie rediscovered these birds and felt an overwhelming connection to her mother’s touch and artistry.
Chapters 17-22 Analysis
These chapters establish the theme of Motherhood as a Force That Transcends Individual Identity as a central organizing principle: It binds strangers together across social boundaries and drives them toward extraordinary acts of protection. Annie and Taylor’s relationship reaches its culmination at Columbus Elementary, where their shared maternal experiences create an immediate, wordless understanding that supersedes their brief acquaintance. When Taylor asks to feel Bean kick, the moment becomes a profound communion between two mothers facing the unthinkable possibility of losing their children. Their discovery of Ava’s dead body under the yellow poncho transforms into a collective ritual of mourning that expands beyond individual grief. This scene demonstrates how maternal instinct creates bonds that transcend class distinctions and personal histories, as three women who are essentially strangers become unified in their recognition of shared vulnerability. Taylor’s ultimate decision to enter the collapsed school building represents the logical extreme of this maternal force—her willingness to risk certain death in an attempt to save her child illustrates how motherhood operates as a primal survival instinct that overrides individual self-preservation.
The novel’s exploration of Crisis as Liberation From Social Performance reaches its peak as Annie abandons her characteristic politeness and people-pleasing behavior in favor of direct, aggressive action. Her confrontation with the military guards at Morrison Bridge marks a complete transformation from the apologetic customer she was at IKEA—now, she is willing to physically challenge armed authorities. Annie approaches the guards with calculated defiance, manipulating them with her appearance as a vulnerable, pregnant woman while she advances toward them despite their warnings. This moment crystallizes the novel’s argument that catastrophic circumstances strip away social conditioning and reveal true human nature. Annie’s transformation reveals that she no longer performs femininity to appease others; instead, she harnesses it to protect herself and her child. She embraces a fierce, primal identity that prioritizes survival over social expectations. The earthquake has liberated her from the constraints of polite behavior, allowing her to access a more fundamental version of herself that operates according to instinct rather than social convention.
Pattee continues to explore the theme of The Crushing Weight of Dreams Deferred, using flashbacks to contrast Annie’s current desperate circumstances with earlier moments of artistic fulfillment and promise. The encounter with her former artistic director at a farmers market creates a painful juxtaposition between Annie’s past potential and present reality, as the director’s well-meaning encouragement only emphasizes how far Annie has drifted from her creative ambitions.
The extended flashback to Annie’s mother’s papier-mâché birds functions as both a parallel and a warning, revealing how artistic passion can persist despite repeated rejection and commercial failure. Annie’s mother meticulously prepares for the craft fair, only to return home with every piece unsold. This establishes a pattern of creative dreams meeting harsh economic realities and mirrors Annie’s own creative trajectory. These memories are interwoven with Annie’s physical journey toward Dom, emphasizing how artistic disappointment has infected even her marriage: Both partners carry the burden of unrealized potential and shared disappointment.
The caterpillar toy emerges as a symbol of human connection and transformation, functioning as a connective thread that links strangers across the disaster’s chaos. Annie’s decision to give the toy to the red-haired girl at Columbus Elementary represents a moment of grace amid horror, and the simple act of sharing creates temporary comfort for a frightened child. The toy’s mechanical melody provides a brief respite from the surrounding devastation, suggesting that small acts of kindness persist even in humanity’s darkest moments. Significantly, the caterpillar is stained with Becky’s blood, linking it to Annie’s earlier encounter with death and her guilt over drinking the dying woman’s water. This detail reinforces the toy’s symbolic function as a reminder of both mortality and metamorphosis—like the creature it represents, characters in the novel must undergo fundamental transformation to survive their circumstances. The ocean imagery in the Seaside flashback echoes this, as water is both a life-giving and destructive force throughout these chapters, from Annie’s desperate search for drinking water to the chaotic river-crossing attempts she witnesses.
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