All We Have Left

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016

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Chapters 21-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 21 Summary: “Alia”

Alia and Travis notice smoke seeping into the elevator and a strong burning smell pervades the space. Travis notes that his grandfather had given him a tour of the basement control center in the past, and that someone manning the monitors should be aware that they are trapped. He repeats his assertion that this may have been a bomb, and notes that “It was Muslims who planted the bomb the last time…” (155), stating that his religion does advocate killing non-believers. Alia rebuts this by saying that religion itself should not be condemned, even when its followers twist its meaning to justify violence.

Travis explains that his grandfather had helped to build the World Trade Center in the late 1960s, following his return from Vietnam. Enchanted with the idea of the Towers, his grandfather had brought his wife to see the top prior to its completion, and had believed that the buildings would stand for a thousand years. Finally, Travis tells Alia that his grandfather died five days ago.

Chapter 22 Summary: “Jesse”

Jesse returns to the Peace Center to find Adam alone, waiting to help her make posters. He states, “You didn’t know I was Muslim, did you?” (161), and Jesse is rendered speechless. Adam says that he thought she had been covering for Nick, noting that the guys at school couldn’t understand “[…] why you’d hooked up with that loser” (160). He further tells her that she is a mere shadow of the graceful, confident girl she was on the mountain. The most hurtful portion of his speech entails telling Jesse that he had read her wrong; he had thought that she was “[…] one of the good ones” (161). Unable to reply further, Jesse merely says that she is sorry. Sabeen enters, thanks Jesse for retrieving her scarf when Nick had thrown it in the gutter, and banters with her brother.

Jesse continues her online research as she tries to find more information about Travis’s death. Her father has led a climbing expedition for the first time in months, and talks to Jesse about it. He seems approachable, so she asks him why Travis had been in the Towers on 9/11. He responds that Travis “[…] was supposed to be at his grandfather’s funeral service, but he wasn’t man enough to be there” (166). His previously calm demeanor fades as he starts to rant about the meaninglessness of Jesse’s mother wanting to talk about Travis; he yells that no amount of talk will ever change the “[…] group of jihad-loving maniacs” (166) who were responsible for the thousands of deaths on 9/ll.

After covering her father’s shift in the store the next day, Jesse visits her brother’s grave. It is located near the grave of her grandfather, Harold McLauren, who died on September 6, 2001; Travis and Harold died within five days of each other. She still has no idea why Travis missed his grandfather’s memorial service.

Chapter 23 Summary: “Alia”

Alia tells Travis that she should have been in school that morning; he tells her that he should be at his grandfather’s memorial service. Realizing that the smoke has become dense, Travis tries to find a way for the pair to escape by forcing open the elevator doors. In the process of searching her backpack for a makeshift tool, Alia drops the notebook, in which she has hastily sketched a picture of Travis. He smiles when he sees it, then finds a pocketknife that had belonged to his grandfather in his own pocket. Despite their combined efforts, they are only able to wedge the doors open a few inches with one of Alia’s textbooks. The lights go out, and the pair wait again in isolation.

Chapter 24 Summary: “Jesse”

Jesse has attended the Peace Center for several weeks and has helped draw posters, arrange a blood drive, and stuff backpacks with food for needy children. Anne Jonna, the 9/11 survivor, has come to address the Peace Center on this afternoon and describes the heroism exhibited by those who were trapped in the Towers. Jesse reflects that she wants “[…] to have the courage of those people in the towers” (179), wondering what would happen if she confronted her father about the hatefulness of his anti-Muslim rhetoric. She waits in line to talk to Ms. Jonna, explaining her search for further information about Travis’s death. Jonna agrees to contact Jesse if she is able to find any additional details.

As she rides her bike home, Jesse receives a text from Hank’s wife, advising her to look at a container in his closet for information regarding Travis. Her father speaks to her briefly; Jesse notes that he has stopped sleeping in the bedroom that he shared with her mother since she has departed, and that he has become quieter and more reflective. Jesse follows Hank’s directions, and finds that the container in his closet holds an old answering machine.

Chapters 21-24 Analysis

The placement of Travis and Alia in the falling Trade Center elevator serves as dramatic juxtaposition. As their elevator falls, their understanding and assessment of one another increases. Cautiously, they share information regarding their respective backgrounds and the reason for their visit to the Towers that morning. The two debate over the question of religion being used to inspire violence, and finally reach a more comfortable understanding of one another. The concept of these two young people using their time trapped in the elevator to know each other is explored further in Chapter 23, when Travis notes that he is missing his grandfather’s memorial service that morning. He uses his grandfather’s pocketknife in an unsuccessful effort to force the elevator doors open. As he does so, Alia notices a small paper bag that he secretes in his pocket. While no further mention is made of this at the time, Travis will eventually explain that he had come to the Towers, which his grandfather had loved so much, in order to sprinkle some of his ashes there. The reference to “ashes” is palpably ironic, as the entire lower section of Manhattan was covered with ash resulting from the fire in the Towers for months after the disaster. Eventually, the lights go out and “[…] the elevator starts swinging again, like the pendulum in one of those old-timey clocks” (174). The metaphor involving time is an apt one, as it is the most important, and rarest, entity in the race to escape the Towers before they collapse.

Jesse’s continued involvement in the Peace Center leads to an uncomfortable, solitary interaction with Adam, who implies that he had been wrong to think that she had been one of the “[…] good ones” (161). Upon her return home, she finds her father unusually reflective, and he shares his sense that his now-estranged wife’s insistence upon conversation regarding the death of Travis was meaningless. His moods are mercurial and frightening to Jesse; he then changes quickly to a vitriolic rage about the “[…] jihad-loving maniacs” (166) who had killed Travis and 3,000 others in the World Trade Center. He also notes that Travis had missed his grandfather’s funeral service that morning, and that no one was aware of a reason for him to have been in the Trade Center.

When a 9/11 survivor, Anne Jonna, speaks at the Peace Center, Jesse asks her help in finding further information about the circumstances of Travis’s death. Jesse truly believes that an explanation for his presence in the area that day will do a great deal to heal her parents’ marriage and help herself and Hank to come to grips with their loss. She finds herself wishing that she were more courageous; the theme of courage on the part of Travis and Alia will be re-visited as the story continues. Finally, as per Hank’s instructions, she looks in his closet and finds an old answering machine, which is intended to lead to information concerning Travis.