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What are the most important themes in How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff? What does the narrator want to tell us?

How I Live Now deals with the themes of war, struggle, survival, and love. The protagonist, a fifteen-year-old girl who goes by the name of Daisy, is sent from New York to the countryside in England because of the developing war. The world is dealing with the outbreak of the new world war, but no one knows who the enemy really is.


The theme of war is very important because we see how war changes the innocent lives of the children Daisy spends time with, such as Edmond and Piper. At first, when they hear about the war, Daisy and the rest are nonchalant; however, when the army arrives at their doorstep, they are separated, with Daisy and Piper taken in one direction, and Edmond taken in the other direction. The have to go through the agony of war, learning to deal with separation, loss and survival. When the war ends, we see that it leaves lasting effects on the characters, such as Edmond. The scars on his arm remind us that he has dealt with the harshness of the war.


The theme of love is also relevant. Daisy decides to return to England, and she notices that the people she knows have changed. Daisy's role when she goes back to England is to rehabilitate Edmond and reignite love in his heart. Although he refuses to see her at first, he soon accepts her, and Daisy begins to heal him. Love, as it turns out, has the power to heal and erase the pain left by the war.

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