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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Looking for Alibrandi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family
Identity, Freedom, and Coming of Age
The Immigrant Experience
Gossip and Appearances
Social Status and Wealth
Love and Relationships
Summary
Analysis
Josie has now been working at McDonald’s for a few weeks at a busy, inner-city location. Josie suspects it’s not actually the right job for her, but since she and Mama aren’t talking after their fight the other night, she can’t say anything. She knows she overreacted, but apologizing feels embarrassing. Josie keeps trying, though, since she’s starting to realize she’s selfish.
Josie is starting to experience an epiphany: admitting that she’s selfish is a sign of maturity. And wanting to apologize, even if she can’t bring herself to do it, shows that Josie knows how to improve her relationship with Mama. She’s just not quite there yet, since she’s still at the beginning of her coming-of-age journey.
Themes
Josie and Anna are working their shift one night when Greg Sims comes in with his group of bullies. Greg terrifies Josie—his family used to live next to Josie and Mama, and the whole family was scary and hostile. Mama and Josie eventually moved out of fear (though Nonna insisted that if Mama married, the Sims wouldn’t pose such a threat). Now, though, Josie realizes Greg recognizes her. When he steps up to the counter, Anna immediately runs for the manager and Josie is thrilled that some police officers have just walked in. Greg pays for his food, seemingly only because the police are there, and Josie makes the mistake of smiling victoriously.
The aside that Nonna wanted Mama to get married years ago shows how much Nonna changes her attitude depending on the circumstances. In the last chapter she accused Mama of neglecting Josie for dating a man who might be interested in marriage. But at this point in the past, Nonna saw Mama marrying as a way to protect Josie. This suggests that no matter what Mama does, she might not be able to win with Nonna.
Themes
Later, as Josie and Anna head for Anna’s car, they find Greg and his friends sitting on the car and drinking. One guy grabs Anna’s keys and Greg grabs Josie. He suggests they have sex in the backseat—and then his friends could have a turn. He tells her that “It’s in [her] blood.” Josie spits in his face and he mashes his mouth into hers. Suddenly, Greg lets go of Josie and Jacob Coote is bashing Greg’s face into the ground. Anton Valavic is there too; Anna clings to him. Watching Jacob beat Greg is horrifying, and Josie begs Jacob to stop. But as soon as Jacob stands up, Greg yells that Josie is a “slut” like Mama. Josie flies at Greg and hits him until Jacob pulls Josie away.
Although Greg insults Josie for being illegitimate and insults Mama as well, this is one of the only instances in the novel where something like this happens. Greg shows that Josie may be at risk of sexual assault because of the circumstances surrounding her birth—but the book also uses this moment to cast doubt on Josie’s assumption that everyone is talking about her illegitimacy. So far, it seems like only Greg is, so Josie may be overestimating how much people are talking about her.
Themes
Jacob warns Greg that he’ll kill him if he tries to touch Josie again, and Greg and his cronies slink away. When Anna’s hands are shaking too much to pick up her car keys, Jacob tells Anton to take Anna home and he says he’ll take Josie home. Then, Jacob tells Josie she’s “stupid,” jams the helmet on her head, and ushers her onto his motorcycle. Josie sobs all the way home because “filthy junkies” said terrible things about Mama—and Josie has been treating Mama so poorly.
As horrible as it is to have been threatened with sexual violence, what’s the most upsetting for Josie is the fact that she and Mama are at odds. This drives home that Josie’s relationship with Mama is one of the most important things in her life. Indeed, she was willing to put herself in danger to defend Mama from Greg.
Themes
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Jacob stops around the corner from Josie’s house and Josie finally admits that she spit at Greg. Jacob is aghast and asks if Mama didn’t teach Josie better, but Josie shouts that Mama is a good mother. She continues to sob. Jacob finally offers her a hanky and assures her it’s clean—his mother taught him to always carry a clean hanky. Josie sniffles into it and after a minute, Jacob asks her out. Josie is shocked; she didn’t think she was Jacob’s type. She adds that in addition to spitting at Greg and hitting him, she also broke a girl’s nose with a textbook. Jacob grins.
Both Josie and Jacob make it clear that their mothers are and were a major influence on their lives. Her love for Mama is why Josie responded to Greg the way she did, and Jacob clearly hasn’t forgotten his own mother’s lessons. It’s telling when Josie is so shocked that Jacob asks her out. Thinking she’s not his type suggests that Josie thinks she and Jacob are somehow very different, though it’s not clear what qualities exactly she’s referring to.
Themes
Josie says that Jacob would have to meet Mama first, but Jacob refuses. Josie says that’s the condition, and angrily, Jacob puts his helmet on. He asks if Mama will only let Josie date “bores like Barton” and suggests that since Josie is an “ethnic girl,” she’ll also probably want to get married right away. Josie storms away, but Jacob calls after her that he’ll meet Mama. Josie imagines how Mama will react to someone like Jacob, who wears T-shirts with crude language on them and rides a motorcycle. But she tells him she’ll ask Mama. Jacob says he’ll pick her up on Saturday and doesn’t hear as Josie shouts for him to wear a tie.
Jacob makes the racist assumption that Josie will want to get married because she’s an “ethnic girl.” It suggests that because of Josie’s background, she’s wildly different from Jacob and looks at relationships very differently. The racism of this statement aside, this nevertheless shows that Josie isn’t the only teen who’s making assumptions about her peers and classmates. The assumptions people make about her, though, just happen to be more loaded because she’s Italian.
Themes
