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Chapter 8
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
The following Friday, Josie goes to Sister Louise’s office with Poison Ivy for their weekly update. Sister Louise is the most “liberated” woman Josie knows, even if she is a nun. Josie admires her. When the meeting is over, Sister Louise dismisses Poison Ivy and says, “Josie, Josie, Josie.” Josie wonders what she did and apologizes for riding Jacob’s motorcycle. Sister Louise says that she used to have one. Then, she asks how Josie is coping with Michael’s reappearance. Josie is ashamed for thinking Sister Louise was going to scold her. Josie says things are fine and says her job at McDonald’s is also fine. Sister Louise then says that Josie should “behave in a Christian way” if she goes out with Jacob. Josie grits her teeth; Sister Louise might care, but nuns are all “tyrants.”
The fact that Josie immediately assumes that Sister Louise is going to scold her shows that Josie sees the adults in her life as totally different from her. Their priorities are different in that they’re far more concerned about Josie’s conduct than Josie is. But when Josie realizes that Sister Louise is just interested in Josie’s life and wellbeing, it suggests that the adults surrounding Josie aren’t so different. They care about her and they don’t necessarily want to be authoritarians—they want to make sure Josie is happy and healthy.
Themes
At home that afternoon, Josie makes meatloaf with Nonna’s coaching. Mama appears in the doorway and asks Nonna to look after Josie tonight—she’s going out. Nonna, confused, asks where Mama is going. Mama finally says she’s going out with a man from work. Nonna accuses Mama of neglecting Josie. Mama is enraged, but Nonna whines that people will talk and she’ll suffer for it. Nonna says the rumors will affect Josie too and then says she knows Michael is Josie’s father. She asks why Mamma “disgraced” her with him and says he’ll never be welcome in her house again. Mama accuses Nonna of being jealous since she didn’t get out after Nonno died for fear of gossip. With a strange look on her face, Nonna says she does understand. She leaves.
This fight between Mama and Nonna shows that every mother-daughter pair in the novel is struggling to balance independence with family. Nonna believes that Josie and Mama should be loyal to the family first and not prioritize their own romantic happiness, while both Josie and Mama believe they should be able to make choices for themselves. And Nonna makes it clear that she feels the way she does because she fears gossip. Just as Josie used gossip in the last chapter to make herself look better to her classmates, Nonna is trying to use the threat of gossip to police Mama’s behavior.
Themes
Mama turns to Josie and says she’s going out with Paul Presilio. Josie hisses that she hates him. She’s starting to get scared. Mama has gone out with Paul before, and he seems to want to get married—which Josie can’t stand. Josie, suddenly angry, asks Mama if this is a work function, and then accuses her of dating Paul just because Michael is around. Their argument escalates. Mama reminds Josie she’s human too, and Josie shouts that Mama must regret her. Josie throws her meatloaf down the sink and plugs her ears; she doesn’t want to listen to Mama anymore.
Josie may be behaving irrationally, but she’s also protective of her relationship with Mama. The possibility of a man coming between them and taking away Mama’s attention is too much for Josie to bear. But Mama’s also right: she’s human, and she deserves to be happy just as much as Josie does. Josie’s inability to comprehend this reads as immature; she sees Mama, as an adult, as fundamentally different from her.
Themes
Josie screams that she hopes she dies in the night so Mama will regret going out. Mama says she’s not sure what she did to deserve Josie, and Josie starts to mention that Mama had a baby out of wedlock. But Mama tells her not to speak and leaves Josie home alone. Josie hates Mama for leaving her alone. She wants to keep Mama all to herself. When Mama comes home after midnight, she opens the door to Josie’s room. She can tell Josie is only pretending to sleep, so she says that she had a great time. Paul is attracted to her for who she is—and Josie can’t take that from her. When Mama’s gone, Josie sobs. She doesn’t want to hurt Mama, but she doesn’t want Mama to need a man to make her feel valued.
Josie might be reacting out of fear, but this fight shows again how normal it is for Josie’s family to fight loudly and be mean about it. And Josie’s fear reaction also stems from her youth and immaturity: her tantrum reads as childish, and she’s unwilling to consider that Mama deserves to be happy and make her own choices. The fact that both Mama and Josie get so upset about what they both say here suggests that while this kind of relationship might be normal for them, that doesn’t mean it’s particularly healthy or helpful for them.
Themes
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