The City of Ember provides a clear depiction of a dystopia and examines in depth the ways authorities seek to keep people under subjugation, as well as the varying responses people have to their situation. The central conflict is between action and passivity, the forms taken by the opposing courses, and the relative merits and drawbacks of each.

Ember is a strictly ordered city. Life follows a predictable pattern. Children go to school until the age of twelve, after which they are assigned a job to serve the community. The Book of the City of Ember outlines the code of behavior that the government expects Ember's citizens to follow. It includes an exhortation to be satisfied with “enough,” which “is all that a person of wisdom needs." The government of Ember presents itself as the ultimate authority and emphasizes that the public “must have faith...that all is being done...for their own good." Curiosity is considered to be a dangerous quality, and the citizenry is expected to be unquestioning and law-abiding “for the good of all.” Thus relieved of the need to be accountable for their actions, the mayor and governing body themselves descend into corruption, assigning to themselves goods and privileges that rightfully should be shared by all.

The author explores a number of ways in which people might react under such conditions of oppression, reactions that are both passive and active. For the majority of the people, as long as the familiar patterns of life go on and their basic needs are met, nothing else really seems to matter. In another example of passive reaction, the Believers are aware that conditions are bad but approach their situation by seeking shelter in a belief system which allows them to exist in total detachment from earthly cares. Such escapism and passivity serve to perpetuate the dystopia, and contrast sharply with the active, constructive responses shown by characters such as Lina and Doon, Doon’s father Mr. Harrow, and Clary, all of whom have in common a willingness to question and reason, to seek understanding, and to work for the betterment of humankind.

Through the adroit use of symbols, the author explores traditional themes of good and evil, death and life, in the context of the futuristic dystopia. The darkness which envelops the city of Ember is threatening to become all-encompassing and permanent, as the generators which provide the only source of light grow increasingly unreliable. Correspondingly, the survival of the people is being compromised as their government becomes more and more corrupt. The mayor, having capitulated to the evil side of human nature, is doing nothing to alleviate the situation of the deteriorating light system. Instead, he is pacifying the people with lies, assuring them that “solutions are being found," while in reality he cares only about preserving the good life for himself and a chosen group of privileged friends who support him. The darkness that threatens to become perpetual in Ember symbolizes the evil which is becoming ever more firmly entrenched there, and which, if unchecked, will soon cause the downfall of the city.

Ember faces a future of death. Unless something is done, the lights will go out, and civilization will die. The masses, brainwashed from birth to be law-abiding and to eschew curiosity and independent thinking, are doomed to continue a mundane existence, oblivious to or uncaring about their inevitable demise. Apathy and indifference, no matter what their causes, can only lead to destruction, but there remains in the novel an element of hope with characters such as Lina, Doon, Clary, and Mr. Harrow—characters that...