The Girl Who Owned a City

“[Lisa’s] actions had become almost automatic. But she was still amazed that she could do the things she had to do—things that the world just hadn’t taught her.”

Nelson’s intent in writing the novel was to show children that they can think through problems on their own; this point is reiterated in several places, including here, where the narrator highlights the fact that Lisa’s success has come from her own ability to think through problems, and not her recollection of things she has been taught before. Ultimately this critical thinking serves to make Lisa self-reliant, which is itself a virtue in the novel’s moral framework.

“[Lisa] had heard the word ‘looting’ before and knew that it was a kind of stealing […] But this wasn’t really looting, was it? Whoever owned this house would never be back to claim it.”

The first part of the novel teaches new vocabulary important to its later claims, and this is the first instance of that. The concept of looting is important for Lisa and the reader to work through because the issue of theft is so important to the book: Theft of someone else’s personal property, especially that which they have earned through their own hard work, is considered a particularly egregious sin.

“The cash register had been broken open and robbed. What will these kids do with the money? she had wondered. Money is useless now.”

Much of what Lisa and the other children must figure out involves the rules of the new society. One of the things that sets Lisa apart is her ability to recognize what is no longer important in this new world. In this case, she observes that other children treat money as if it still has value, despite there no longer being any kind of formal economy.