Chap­ter 172 of All the Col­ors of the Dark cap­tures a year in the nar­ra­tor’s life after part­ing ways with Grace. The chap­ter presents a time of reflec­tion, cen­tered around the life the nar­ra­tor shares with his daugh­ter, Char­lotte. This year is char­ac­ter­ized by their dai­ly rou­tines, where each moment spent togeth­er high­lights the warmth and com­fort they find in each other’s com­pa­ny. The chang­ing sea­sons and the evolv­ing nature of Charlotte’s growth are sym­bol­ized sub­tly through the clothes she wears, ground­ing the nar­ra­tive in time and cre­at­ing an emo­tion­al con­nec­tion to the pro­gres­sion of their lives.

In Jan­u­ary, the two enjoy a mem­o­rable day at the Mad House, where they watch a 49ers game against the Charg­ers. This moment sparks Charlotte’s curios­i­ty, and she seeks out an old foot­ball in the attic, dream­ing of becom­ing a foot­ball play­er. She prac­tices throw­ing the foot­ball in the frosty yard, her imag­i­na­tion run­ning wild as she envi­sions her­self in the world of sports. How­ev­er, when Char­lotte play­ful­ly men­tions want­i­ng to play con­tact sports, Nor­ma cau­tions her, humor­ous­ly warn­ing of the poten­tial con­se­quences of such activ­i­ties. Char­lotte, in her usu­al spir­it­ed way, dis­miss­es the warn­ing and reflects on the idea of not hav­ing chil­dren, indi­cat­ing her grow­ing abil­i­ty to con­sid­er her future inde­pen­dent­ly. This play­ful yet thought­ful exchange between Char­lotte and Nor­ma high­lights the inno­cence and wis­dom that inter­mix­es with­in Char­lotte as she begins to nav­i­gate her world and form her own opin­ions.

Every month, Char­lotte and the nar­ra­tor con­tin­ue their rit­u­al of vis­it­ing the Alamo The­atre. They share pop­corn while watch­ing hor­ror films, and though Char­lotte finds her­self ter­ri­fied of Fred­dy Krueger, her resolve to con­tin­ue watch­ing is unwa­ver­ing. The fear that aris­es in these moments reflects not just her love for the thrill of the expe­ri­ence but also her bud­ding under­stand­ing of con­fronting fears head-on. These shared expe­ri­ences in the the­atre bring them clos­er, as they bond over the spec­ta­cle of fear and imag­i­na­tion.

How­ev­er, the nar­ra­tive shifts when tragedy strikes in Okla­homa, cre­at­ing a pro­found impact on Char­lotte. The news of the dev­as­ta­tion and loss of life dis­turbs her deeply, and she is unable to sleep, over­whelmed by the suf­fer­ing she has wit­nessed. As a result, the narrator’s pro­tec­tive instincts are trig­gered, and he stays by Charlotte’s door through the night, watch­ing over her as she strug­gles to come to terms with the cru­el­ty of the world. This emo­tion­al exchange under­scores the deep bond between father and daugh­ter and the vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty that both of them share. Char­lot­te’s expo­sure to real-world suf­fer­ing marks a turn­ing point in her under­stand­ing of the fragili­ty of life, while the narrator’s com­mit­ment to her well-being high­lights his role as a con­stant pro­tec­tor and source of sta­bil­i­ty.

The family’s rit­u­al of light­ing can­dles at St. Raphael’s offers a poignant moment of both mourn­ing and hope. As Char­lotte reads about a griev­ing moth­er, she grows more attuned to the com­plex­i­ties of life, par­tic­u­lar­ly the themes of loss, grief, and empa­thy. This moment is a cru­cial step in her emo­tion­al devel­op­ment, as she learns to grap­ple with the weight of sor­row while main­tain­ing a sense of com­pas­sion. The chap­ter ends on a thought-pro­vok­ing note, as Char­lotte inquires about the mys­tery of miss­ing girls, indi­cat­ing her curios­i­ty about the dark­er aspects of life. This ques­tion serves as a metaphor for her increas­ing aware­ness of the com­plex and painful real­i­ties that exist beyond the safe con­fines of her child­hood.

Through these inter­twined moments of ordi­nary life and deep­er emo­tion­al rev­e­la­tions, Chap­ter 172 poignant­ly explores the evolv­ing rela­tion­ship between the nar­ra­tor and Char­lotte. It illus­trates the com­plex­i­ties of grow­ing up, the inevitabil­i­ty of fac­ing harsh real­i­ties, and the solace found in fam­i­ly bonds. The chap­ter sub­tly reflects on the pas­sage of time, draw­ing atten­tion to Charlotte’s devel­op­ing sense of self, her grow­ing aware­ness of loss and grief, and her unwa­ver­ing curios­i­ty about the world. By the end of the chap­ter, Char­lot­te’s jour­ney from inno­cence to a more mature under­stand­ing of the world around her is clear­ly marked, offer­ing both hope and sor­row in equal mea­sure.