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Chapter 5
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
Over the weekend, Nonna hosts a family barbecue. Josie spends most of the time in the pool wrestling with Robert. Michael Andretti is at the barbecue, too. At one point, Josie sees Mama and Michael go inside. Josie gets out of the pool and sits on the step to listen in. Michael and Mama are arguing—Michael spits that he doesn’t want Josie, and he’s not going to pretend he does. She’s just a “complication.” Trembling, Ma tells Michael to get married and have kids and warns him that he won’t get another chance to get to know Josie.
Just as Josie makes assumptions about people like John, Jacob, and Ivy, Michael is making assumptions about Josie and how she might affect his life. Mama’s love for Josie, though, shines through here. It’s offensive to her when Michael calls Josie just a “complication,” since to Mama, Josie is her whole world. It’s inconceivable to her that he wouldn’t want to get to know her—they’re family, after all.
Themes
Then, Mama shares that Nonna doesn’t know Michael is Josie’s father. Mama says that she regrets nothing, but she pities Michael for not knowing Josie. Michael asks if Mama needs money, which seems to offend Mama even more. Unwilling to listen anymore, Josie returns to the pool. Later, though, she notices Nonna staring between Mama, Michael, and her. Nonna seems to have put it together that Michael is Josie’s father.
When Michael offers Mama money, he seems to do so out of a sense of obligation, not because he actually wants to help Josie. Indeed, he seems like he wants to make Josie go away. Nonna finding out that Michael is Josie’s father introduces another complication into Josie’s family situation.
Themes
When Michael goes back inside a bit later, Josie follows him. She watches him study photos and knickknacks in Nonna’s sitting room. When he sits down, Josie notices he has dimples—which enrages her, since she didn’t inherit his dimples or Mama’s high cheekbones. She surprises Michael and says that Nonna doesn’t like it when people sit in the living room during barbecues. When he nods and starts to leave the room, she scornfully tells him to say something.
Josie has very clear priorities: she wants to be beautiful and since she doesn’t think she’s particularly attractive, she resents her parents for not giving her the appropriate DNA. This is humorous, but it also illuminates how young and naïve Josie is. In addition, it also shows how she thinks of Michael at this point: he’s just someone who contributed DNA, not an actual person in her life.
Themes
Michael asks what Josie wants to hear, but Josie doesn’t know—she just doesn’t want him to ignore her or be polite. She admits that she expected they’d both tap into their “Italian emotion” and scream at each other. Josie continues to angrily berate Michael for ruining Mama’s life, while he remains calm. When he finally insists she’s gone too far, she asks if he’s really going to discipline her like a father. They agree to shake hands and never see each other again—though secretly, Josie wants to see him again.
When Josie mentions expecting to tap into her “Italian emotion” and scream at Michael, it explains why she leans so heavily on drama and yelling in her relationships with Mama and Nonna. To her, being emotionally expressive is part of being Italian. Just as Mama’s loyalty to Josie was evident earlier, here Josie makes it clear that her loyalty is to Mama above all else. Michael not giving her dimples might be offensive, but abandoning Mama is unforgivable.
Themes
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Back at home in front of the TV later that night, Mama asks Josie about Michael. Josie tries to ignore the question, but then says that she and Michael were very clear that they didn’t want to see each other again. Mama insists that it’s Michael’s loss. Josie asks Mama what she wanted her life to be like when she was 17, before Josie was born. Josie says she wants to fall in love with someone rich and have two kids. Mama says she wanted to marry someone who loved her and have four little girls. She admits that at the time, she wanted to marry Michael.
Josie is becoming a bit more curious and less self-absorbed here as she asks Mama what her dreams were as a teenager. It’s a major step for Josie to recognize that Mama hasn’t always been a mother—she was once a young person, with dreams and goals that had nothing to do with Josie. Josie’s dreams again show that she prioritizes wealth and status, since she makes no mention of marrying someone who’s wealthy but who also loves her.
Themes
