The House at the End of the World

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses child sexual abuse and murder.

“Katie lives alone on the island. She lives less for herself than for the dead.”

These mysterious opening sentences provide characterization by revealing one of Katie’s most important traits: her desire for isolation. She lives alone by choice after experiencing the trauma of her family’s death. These lines also foreshadow Katie’s central conflict, which is how to live and for whom. At the beginning of the book, Katie believes that she is fulfilling her promise to Avi, which was to live, but she recognizes in Part 4 that she’s only been half-living because of her commitment to the dead. Finally, these lines create suspense by referencing “the dead” without explaining who they are.

“She isn’t a survivalist, but she intends to survive. She’s not a prepper, though she makes preparations.”

Koontz uses polyptoton and parallelism in these sentences, making Katie’s preparations intention “to survive” appear obsessive. They also reveal something important about her, which is that she is determined and logical in her approach to living without joining a specific worldview, such as being a “prepper” or “survivalist.” Katie is not a joiner of groups or identities; at the beginning of the book, at least, she functions best alone.