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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Another Brooklyn, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Loss, Denial, and Grief
Friendship, Womanhood, and Support
Religion, Tradition, and Death
Racism and Classism
Summary
Analysis
August’s father lets her and her brother out of the apartment after the incident with the broken window. At first, he tells them they’re only allowed to go as far as the gate in front of their building, then to the corner, then to the bodega, and finally as far as they want. Walking through the streets, August searches for her mother, wondering what she looks like now and if she still cries Clyde’s name in the night. August is 11 now and she continues to keep track of Sylvia, Angela, and Gigi, watching them from afar at school and feeling like she has so much in common with them despite the fact that they haven’t officially met yet.
August continues to yearn for companionship. In particular, she wants to establish close female relationships, possibly because this is the thing she lacks most in her life, since she’s still waiting in vain for her mother to return. Waiting like this causes August to live in a state of constant uncertainty, wondering when her family will be whole again. In this state of mind, she thinks about what her mother must look like now and how she’s doing now that they’ve been separated for three years.
Themes
Finally, Sylvia asks August one day why she always stares at her, Angela, and Gigi. Moreover, Sylvia asks what August sees in them, clarifying that she’s not trying to be mean. In response, August says that she sees “everything” when she looks at them. This prompts Sylvia to ask if August is the girl without a mother, but August lies and says no. Disregarding August’s answer, Sylvia reaches out and takes her hand, saying, “You belong to us now.” Several years later, August asks Sylvia what she saw in her that day. Sylvia replies that August seemed lost and beautiful, and Angela adds that she also looked “hungry.” When the girls first come together, then, they all recognize these qualities in each other, each girl feeling lost, beautiful, and hungry.
At first, Sylvia’s questions seem confrontational, as if she’s making fun of August for always staring at her, Angela, and Gigi. However, it slowly emerges that she’s simply curious about August. More importantly, it becomes clear that Sylvia and the others are just as interested in August as August is interested in them, forming a group in which each girl sees herself reflected in the others. In this way, August gains the kind of female companionship and support she’s been wanting so badly.
Themes
Sylvia’s family moved to Brooklyn from Martinique one year before August arrived in the city. Sylvia’s parents still speak French to her, but she claims to have forgotten the language, focusing primarily on developing her friendships with Angela and Gigi while Sylvia’s father quotes philosophy to her in her first language. Gigi also moved to Brooklyn the year before August, but she came from South Carolina. Gigi’s mother, Gigi explains, wanted to spend her 21st birthday in New York City. Gigi then urges August not to calculate how old her mother is, joking that the math will only add up to teen pregnancy. Such a thing, August and her friends believe, will never happen to them.
Sylvia, August, and Gigi share their backstories with one another. In doing so, they realize that they are all in similar positions, at least insofar as they are new to Brooklyn. In turn, August further solidifies her connection to these girls, finding that—though their specific backgrounds vary from one another—they are all capable of understanding what it’s like to move to a new city as a young girl. Needless to say, then, August finds a support network she previously lacked.
Themes
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Unlike the others, Angela remains quiet about her family and home life. She also sometimes acts emotionally removed, but when August and her friends ask what’s wrong, Angela insists that she’s fine and she tells them to leave her alone. Still, August notices how frequently Angela’s hands clench when these dark moods overcome her. When this happens, the girls let Angela brood, and she tells them that she doesn’t have a past life—the only thing that matters is her current life and her friendship with them.
Unlike the others, Angela is unwilling to talk about her family or her home life. This suggests that she faces hardships none of the other girls have experienced—if they had, it seems, she would be more likely to open up to them about her personal life. Tragically, then, Angela doesn’t benefit from quite the same kind of communal support as the other girls do, though this doesn’t discourage them from trying to comfort her in any way they can, which is a testament to the group’s determination to uplift one another.
Themes
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