The City of Ember: Plot and Setting

The Instructions

• The chief builder and assistant builder debated the future of the city of Ember when it was constructed, deciding that its inhabitants must not leave for at least 200 years
• Instructions for the future would be provided in a timed lockbox, set to open on a specific date, emphasizing the importance of keeping the instructions safe and secret
• The mayors were tasked with passing down the box unopened, but the seventh mayor, desperate for a cure to his illness, damaged the box lid in an attempt to access it early
• The box was then lost in a closet among old bags and bundles until the lock clicked open at the right time

Assignment Day

• In Ember, the sky is always dark and the city lights frequently fail due to the city's age and disrepair, reminding the citizens of a future permanent darkness
• On Assignment Day, the graduating twelve-year-olds of Ember are assigned their jobs for the next three years
• Twenty-four students sat in Room 8 of Ember School were anxiously waiting for the selection process during their Assignment Day in the year 241
• Lina Mayfleet longed to be a messenger, while Doon Harrow wished to work as an electrician's helper
• The mayor reminded students that Evaluation would come in three years and they would either keep their post or be re-assigned
• Lizzie Bisco was assigned to the Supply Depot, and Chet Noam became an electrician's helper causing Doon great disappointment
• Lina was assigned to the Pipeworks laborer, which was a job she greatly detested
• Doon, assigned messenger, expressed his anger and the frustration of Ember's failing infrastructure and was scolded by the mayor
• Doon and Lina traded their assignments at Lina's suggestion; she was happy with her new role

A Message to the Mayor

• As Lina travels home she reflects on Ember's streets and how four streetlamps on Hafter Street were out
• There were rumors that the lightbulbs were slowly depleting with the other resources
• She is grateful to Doon for the job trade
• As younger children, Lina and Doon were friends, but they grew apart after Doon took the light-pole challenge too seriously and was scolded by Mrs. Polster
• Lina lived over her Granny's yarn shop in Quillium Square and happily announced her new role to her grandmother and her little sister Poppy
• Lina saw that Granny had forgotten to knot her hair, which was another sign her mind was slipping
• She vowed to be a famous messenger
• Their apartment of four rooms was filled with broken and threadbare things, but they made the best out of what they had because people in Ember rarely threw anything away
• She had created drawings of a bright city with light and air, but knows that the Book of the City of Ember says no such place exists, only the darkness in the Unknown Regions
• She reported to the messengers headquarters and was greeted by Captain Allis Fleery and given the messenger uniform
• She learned the rules and was set to her station at Garn Square
• Natty Prine was her first customer
• She delivered nineteen messages and then a young man with a long neck delivered a message for her to give to the mayor at the Gathering Hall saying, "Delivery at eight. From Looper."
• She found the Office of the Mayor and waited in the reception, before deciding to climb the stairs to the roof of the Gathering Hall
• On the roof, she was apprehended by Redge Stabmark, Chief Guard, and was brought to Barton Snode and the mayor for causing a commotion
• She gave the mayor her message and was scolded by the mayor until Doon spoke up that Ember was falling apart
• Despite the mayor showing little interest in change she was released
• Leaving the Gathering Hall, after having the message dismissed, she was spotted by Doon who didn't speak to her

Under Ember

• Doon arrived at Pipeworks excited to begin and make a difference
• He met Lister Munk, Pipeworks director, who got him boots, a slicker that smelled like sweaty feet, and a tool belt before setting to work with Arlin Froll in Tunnel 97
• She was petite but extremely skilled
• He and Arlin fixed many pipes and got soaked in the process, and it just drove home the horrible shape the city was in
• During lunch, Doon left Arlin and tried to get into the generator room
• It met him with a horrendous racket but he was still determined to see it and learn how it works
• He spoke to an old man who has worked on it for twenty years who said, “All I know is, the river makes it go."
• The director mentioned that he had heard the city might run out of lightbulbs soon
• After seeing Lina on the roof he returns to the apartment and accidentally hits his father with a heel
• Father reassures him of his ability and introduces him to the worm in his room
• Recommends the importance of paying attention

Something Lost, Nothing Found

• Granny searched the couch saying, “Something is lost, I think it might be in here," but then doesn't remember what it is and says it was long ago, from her father
• A concerned Lina asks Mrs. Murdo to look in on Lina's grandmother to make sure everything is all right
• While working, Lina delivered a message to Clary, where she expressed her sadness about her job
• At the greenhouse, Sadge Merrall suddenly emerged from the Unknown Regions in a panic talking only of the darkness and the monsters saying they were all doomed
• Clary explains that he is one of four who were scared out, and she asks Lina to get him some water
• Sadge tells that he found nothing that can help them
• Lina and Clary discuss what's in the Unknown Region or even If Ember is the only light in the darkness
• Clary shares the miracle of the seed and a story of the Builders from long ago
• Lina shared that she feels there is another city somewhere
• Clary offered Lina a Bean for her own

On Night Street

• Granny continued to get increasingly forgetful, forcing Lina to depend greatly on Mrs Murdo
• Lina overheard conversations about a shop on Night Street having colored pencils
• She decided to visit the shop on her Thursday off accompanied by her toddler sister Poppy
• On the way she found Sadge Merrall shouting that the area surrounding them was all but desolate, people called him mad
• Reaching the store on Night Street that had no sign, she met Looper who had been the one to give Lina the message to the mayor
• He showed her his "expensive" colored pencils that went for five dollars each
• She bought the blue and green
• Loosing Poppy in a moment of excitement from the pencils, she bolted finding her just as the lights went out
• Lina had a terrible sense of fear that anything could have happened, but the lights came back on and Poppy was safe with Doon Harrow

The Box in the Closet

• After the blackout, a town meeting was called during which the mayor gave promises that the circumstances required great patience and his administration was working to find solutions
• As people became irate the mayor was rushed back into the Gathering Hall
• Doon and his father discussed it and he was bothered by the idea that the people were being lied to
• Lina came and they took away the last of Mrs. Murodo's security she had worked toward
• Later at the house, Lina found that Granny had scattered the belongings in the cabinet saying they were looking for the thing that had been lost
• Poppy had found a small metal box and was tearing the paper inside of it
• Lina retrieved the paper and took the box to her room
• The paper had type written text which spurred her curiosity

A Message Full of Holes

• The typewritten document was the first writing of the Builders
• Lina knew it was meant for her which excited her
• Over the evening she assembled it as well as she could and realized that the top of the document stated, "Instructions"
• All the words are broken up and ruined she concludes feeling hopeless
• In a moment of inspiration she decided to show it to Captain Fleery who came over and dismissed it as just possibly being a recipe
• That night in bed she concluded that it did matter why she had the small box-it was important
• Because Clary was always helpful, she knew that she could possibly rely on Clary to help

Explorations

• Doon grew disappointed in what he was finding so he started exploring beyond his responsibilities in hopes of finding something of importance to the community
• After the last blackout, it became more apparent that there was not much to do
• The work is unrewarding and he is being mocked for taking interest in bugs
• He was upset that the power he needed to improve Ember fell right out of his reach
• One day he tried to touch some wires to get a better understanding of the energy and got a painful shock
• That night he saw Lina in the sky and she looked very free, he was confused on why it was so easy for her to be happy
• He told his father a bit about this and admitted that he felt it sounded bad even to him so his father recommended he find something to do with what he got
• Doon took to the suggestion and studied the worm he had and found it fascinating

The Door in the Roped-Off Tunnel

• Lina immediately turned to Doon and spoke to him about her discovery that could better the city
• He agreed to see and they traveled to the apartment
• They learned of a man named Doon's father through an odd happenstance
• In the apartment Lina showed Doon all the papers that she had and how they seem to state the words, "door" "instructions" and "Pipeworks"
• Doon and Lina spoke, and he confessed he wanted to explore the tunnel with her
• Because he thought he could get inside, he said he had to do research first and it was better that she wait
• While all the conversation transpired it was soon realized there was a door to the tunnel

On Night Street

• Clary could go to the Greenhouses and Lina will go with Popper
• Her grandmother seems to be losing her mental health, and Lina was nervous about their future
• When she asked a friend the friend told them that it was ok because Looper's friend had the right way
• Clary has started to see the light and knows that a light and time in their life are essential to survival
• Doon told many things such as how to use the matches and where to drop the candles
• "Then," ahe aaid said told the story that is not enough

Blue Sky and Goodbye

• With Doon's head in the clouds, lina got up by a candle which led to the door
• Even though it was not a door, it did open the path to the river which would lead to the road
• So Clary and lina had gone and gone and that it could be done, so they planned to look a great deal

A Dreadful Discovery

• Doon was tired, had worked all night, was now being mocked - he needed a change so set out on a quest to solve all these
• Doon would need the candle that day to do any thing if not he would be stuck and cold down in a the darkness
• To his shock, the door was now unlocked even though they previously had seen it as locked
• That day he saw Doon heading to the Gathering Hall and went to warn lina

The Way Out

The city of Ember was designed to keep inhabitants safe for 200 years. Instructions for the future were locked in a box, to be opened on a specific date. Assignment Day dictates the jobs of twelve-year-olds for the next three years.