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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Al Capone Does My Shirts, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Disability, Dignity, and Shared Humanity
Friendship and Community
Family
Growing Up and Doing the Right Thing
Summary
Analysis
Moose knows he has to tell Mom and Dad the truth. He’d leave “a regular sister” for five minutes, so Mom can’t be mad. But Mom bursts in the door with a newspaper featuring a front-page story about the Esther P. Marinoff, detailing the successes it’s had with children. Reading a quote from Mr. Purdy about accepting kids between seven and 12 years old, Moose wonders if Mr. Purdy believes Natalie is 10. Moose tells Mom he needs to talk to her, but Mom is too excited. However, her voice takes on an edge when Moose notes that the school only accepts kids up to age 12—Natalie has been 10 for five years now. Mom cries as Moose says they need to talk, but Mom slams things in the kitchen and insists they wait for Dad. He gets home moments later and twirls Mom around when she shows him the paper.
Moose wants to do right by Natalie, while also continuing to be the responsible son his parents have come to rely on. However, Mom’s focus on Natalie—and on getting her into the Esther P. Marinoff—blinds her to Moose’s clear distress. Her emotional response to Moose noting that Natalie is not actually 10 also suggests that she resents his attempts to tell the truth about Natalie. Having found her holding hands with a man earlier, Moose can’t ignore that Natalie is in no way a prepubescent child. But Mom doesn’t want to accept that fact.
Themes
Moose escapes to his room and later, Mom and Dad join him. Moose says he doesn’t think it’s safe for Natalie to join him around the island, cutting off Mom’s insistence that Mrs. Kelly believes Natalie is improving to say that something happened. He says that a convict “noticed” Natalie—and neither Mom nor Dad are surprised or upset. Mom says Natalie is pretty, and what’s important is that Natalie is improving. For instance, Natalie told Mom that Mom was making her sad, using a pronoun and expressing a feeling for the first time in her life. Shouting now, Mom says that nothing will change for Natalie, and Moose can’t “sulk inside” with her. Dad assures Moose they understand how much he’s doing, angering Mom more. Mom notes that the entrance interviews for the Esther P. Marinoff are a few weeks away, and nothing can go wrong in the meantime.
During this discussion, Mom shows again that her focus is on Natalie and Natalie alone. It doesn’t matter to her what Moose wants or that he believes Natalie isn’t safe—what matters to her is that Natalie seems to be making real, concrete strides and communicating better these days. Mom and Dad’s unconcerned reaction about hearing that a convict “noticed” Natalie suggests that whatever Mom says, on some level they both do understand that Natalie isn’t 10. At least in this regard, they’ll allow Natalie to be the young woman they know she actually is—at least in theory.
Themes
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