History is All You Left Me

The primary theme explored through History Is All You Left Me is grief and moving on. The primary vessel for this theme is Griffin Jennings, as he deals with the aftermath of Theo’s death, but it’s present in the details of every character who cared for Theo McIntire. Jackson Wright and Wade Church struggle with Theo’s death. Theo’s dad begins smoking again, Theo’s mom stops dying her hair, and Theo’s sister, Denise, doesn’t care to help with the baking on Thanksgiving. All these characters in the periphery fight their own battles against grief while Griffin fights his in the main narrative.

In the early “Today” chapters, Griffin finds every step from his bed to Theo’s funeral unbearable. The only reason Griffin goes at all is because “there’s a clock on this thing. The service is today. The burial is tomorrow. I don’t know what comes after that” (19). Griffin’s struggle to look beyond Theo’s burial shows how thick the cloud of grief around him is. He’s so lost in his emotions that he cannot process that life will continue once Theo is buried. This moment shows how grief can make it difficult for one to look to the future.

As the novel progresses, Griffin and Jackson gravitate toward one another, despite their previous animosity. As Wade tells Griffin in Chapter 5, “[Jackson is] probably the only other person here who gets what you’re going through” (28). Griffin and Jackson quickly become comfortable with one another and begin to share pieces of Theo with each other. Griffin believes “[they] can help each other through this, and […] can legit help each other heal” (136). However, Griffin’s mental health and compulsions are impacted as he buries himself in his shared grief with Jackson. This culminates in an incident at the school library, where Griffin screams at another student for not switching seats to allow Griffin to be on the left. This incident shows how grief can negatively impact one’s mental health.

Griffin’s parents attempt to reach him in his grief by sending Jackson home and sending Griffin to therapy, but Griffin chooses to run away with Jackson for a few days instead. He expresses a desire to keep Jackson close because “he’s filled cold silences with warm stories, even if those stories sometimes hit too close and burned me” (176). Despite acknowledging that it’s hurting him to keep Jackson and Theo’s memories so close, he chooses to continue to engage in his grief because he cannot let go of Theo. This leads Griffin to make harmful decisions like running away to California, asking for details about Theo’s death, and having sex with Jackson out of revenge.

After his dramatic encounter with Jackson in California, Griffin finally begins to take steps toward moving on. He tries therapy and decides to be honest with himself—and Theo. Once Griffin admits the truth about his relationship with Wade to the Theo he believes is listening to him, he starts to heal from his grief. After pushing Wade away in favor of Jackson for weeks, Griffin decides to make amends with Wade. While babysitting Denise with Wade, all three of them have a spontaneous dance party, which Griffin describes as, “the collective happiness of three people in desperate need of happiness” (265). Griffin, Wade, and Denise are all able to embrace a moment of joy and dance together despite their grief. This moment shows how one can experience intense positive emotions during and after grieving a big loss. This indicates hope for all three of them learning to move on with their lives.

In the final chapter, Griffin shows he’s healed enough to be ready to move on as he visits Theo’s grave. He understands that “this is what’s best for me” (289) as he abandons Theo’s hoodie at the grave. Theo’s hoodie is a symbol of Griffin’s attachment to Theo, so Griffin abandoning the hoodie shows he’s finally ready to move on from Theo and heal. Griffin promises Theo he’ll “find happiness again. It’s the best way to honor you” (290). Griffin’s willingness to move on at the end of the book drives home the idea that moving on from grief is a difficult yet necessary step for people to pursue happiness.