“I am twelve today. Someday in the future I will be more than twelve plus two. I will become older than my older sister. There is no music in that fact. There is absolutely no reason. It does not add up, all neat and in order.”

Cora is characterized as a highly logical person, with a preference for factual truths that make mathematical sense. Her reflections on her age compared to Mabel’s reveal that she is grappling with a sense of loss and unreality over Mabel’s death. She comes to terms with the tragedy of Mabel’s death and finds closure through the course of The Shape of Thunder.

“Grams should know I didn’t invite Quinn. I haven’t talked to her since that day. The day Mabel died. November 11.”

Cora and Quinn’s strained relationship is established and the circumstance of Mabel’s death is revealed as the reason for their falling out. This alludes to the reader’s discovery that Quinn’s brother, Parker, murdered Cora’s sister, Mabel. Grief and Guilt After the Loss of A Sibling is alluded to as an important theme. Furthermore, their relationship repair is foreshadowed.

“I blink away the tears before Dad can see them. I have to be strong for him. I’m the only Hamed girl left.”

Grief and Guilt After the Loss of A Sibling is highlighted as Cora feels survivor’s guilt that she is alive, while her sister, Mabel is not. Furthermore, she feels pressure to mitigate her father’s grief through managing her own outward expression of grief. The suffering of the Hamed family after Mabel’s death is illustrated in this exchange.