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Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Me Talk Pretty One Day, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Insecurity
Humor, Commentary, and Observation
Class and Belonging
Family, Love, and Support
Summary
Analysis
When Sedaris’s family moves from New York State to Raleigh, North Carolina, his parents forbid him and his siblings from adopting the regional dialect. Although everyone around them says “ma’am” and uses the word “y’all,” the Sedaris children are warned against integrating such terms into their vocabulary. “We might not have been the wealthiest people in town, but at least we weren’t one of them,” Sedaris notes, referring to North Carolinians who speak in this manner.
When Sedaris’s parents ban him and his siblings from using words like “ma’am” and “y’all,” they send a certain message to their children, one that suggests that they are somehow above acting like everyone else in North Carolina. Indeed, his parents appear to have a rather classist attitude, effectively teaching their children that, though they aren’t extremely rich, they are better than their working-class neighbors. Needless to say, Sedaris picks up on this prejudiced sentiment as a child, which is why he is so attuned to issues of class and wealth in the essays that make up Me Talk Pretty One Day.
Themes
Nobody in the Sedaris family adopts the North Carolinian way of speaking, but this changes when Sedaris’s youngest brother, Paul, is born. Paul is the only Sedaris to grow up in North Carolina, so he naturally develops a southern way of speaking. Moreover, he is quite crass, the kind of person who—as an adult—calls Lou Sedaris on the phone and says things like, “Motherfucker, I ain’t see pussy in so long, I’d throw stones at it.” He has more or less been speaking like this ever since he was in the second grade. He also talks so quickly that even his friends struggle to understand him. “You can’t kill the Rooster,” he often says, referring to himself by the name he uses when he feels “threatened.” Sedaris notes that if someone were to ask why, exactly, he calls himself The Rooster, Paul wouldn’t give a clear answer.
After establishing his parents’ classist attitude and their sense of superiority over the people in their immediate environment, Sedaris introduces readers to his younger brother Paul, a man who defies everything his parents believe about class. Instead of adopting the refined and condescending attitude his parents celebrate, Paul embraces an unapologetically crass way of moving through the world. As a result, Sedaris presents readers with something of a culture clash, illustrating the ways in which Paul—or “The Rooster”—challenges his parents’ classism.
Themes
Sedaris and his sisters have never been allowed to say “shut up,” but by the time The Rooster is a teenager, his parents don’t even say anything when he yells, “Shut your motherfucking hole.” Similarly, whereas Sedaris and his sisters weren’t allowed to smoke marijuana, The Rooster is simply not allowed to smoke marijuana in the living room, and he even breaks this rule on a regular basis without repercussions. Seemingly no matter what The Rooster does, Sedaris’s parents are thrilled by him. When The Rooster leaves a bong on the dinner table one day, Sedaris’s mother puts flowers in it and says, “I think it was very nice of Paul to give me this vase.”
Throughout his life, Sedaris has had a somewhat strange relationship with his father, who tries to support him but always does this in ways that overshadow what Sedaris actually wants. By contrast, Paul apparently enjoys the unadulterated support of both his parents, regardless of the fact that he breaks all of their rules and puts their classist values to the test. By spotlighting this dynamic, Sedaris shows readers that his parents are capable of accepting people for who they are, even if they’ve sometimes failed to do this with Sedaris himself.
Themes
Sedaris’s father has always had high expectations—expectations that Sedaris and his sisters have not necessarily managed to meet. He has always wanted a child—and specifically a son—who attends an Ivy League university, plays football, and is in a jazz combo. Sedaris, for his part, doesn’t do any of these things. For this reason, Lou places all his hopes on The Rooster, whom he dresses in suits and clip-on ties when he’s only ten years old. The Rooster is also forced to take trumpet lessons and play on sports teams, but none of this sticks. At a certain point, The Rooster dismisses his father’s attempts to influence his life, saying, “That shit don’t mean fuck to me.”
Although Sedaris’s parents eventually accept The Rooster for who he is, Lou still tries to turn him into the kind of son he has always wanted. Unlike Sedaris, though, The Rooster is more comfortable with voicing his lack of interest in such things, proclaiming that his father’s expectations “don’t mean fuck” to him. Sedaris, on the other hand, tries to satisfy his father even when he’s uninterested in doing whatever Lou wants him to do, as evidenced by the fact that he took guitar lessons as a child even though he didn’t want to. And yet, Lou has a soft spot for The Rooster, not for Sedaris—a sign that, though he wants to influence his children’s lives, he doesn’t actually care all that much whether or not they listen to him. In this backward way, then, he actually emerges as a rather supportive and loving father.
Themes
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Lou Sedaris is a man who can’t even bring himself to say “goddamn,” let alone tell a dirty joke. When he’s with The Rooster, though, he simply smiles and laughs when his son calls him “bitch” and “motherfucker.” When The Rooster is an adult and goes out in public, people are appalled to hear the way he speaks to his father, but Sedaris knows that the relationship between the two men is tender and loving. Like The Rooster, Lou Sedaris is a very blunt man, even if he’s unwilling to curse. For this reason, he appreciates The Rooster’s direct way of speaking, praising his son for knowing how to speak his mind. The Rooster didn’t go to an Ivy League school, but he still has the uncompromised respect of his father. Having dropped out of technical school, he works in landscaping, and his father raves about his lawnmowing abilities.
Again, it becomes clear that Lou Sedaris is a loving and supportive father even when his children fail to live up to his expectations. What he really respects, it seems, is a person’s ability to be straightforward. Since The Rooster is more than capable of doing this, then, Lou has a soft spot for him. Sedaris, on the other hand, has always tried to please Lou by going along with his ideas and quietly struggling to meet his expectations (to a certain extent, that is). In doing so, he doesn’t speak his mind like The Rooster does. In turn, readers will perhaps pick up on the message that it’s best to unapologetically be oneself in life, even if this doesn’t align with others’ values.
Themes
The Rooster is the only Sedaris sibling to have stayed in North Carolina, so he spends quite a bit of time with his father, especially after his mother dies. Trying to console Lou, he urges him to move on, saying, “What you need now is some motherfucking pussy.” And even though Lou ignores this advice, the fact of the matter remains that The Rooster is the only sibling who visits him on a regular basis. When a hurricane sweeps through Raleigh and wrecks part of Lou’s house, The Rooster comes over with a large bucket of candy and stays with his father for a week, a time during which there is no electricity. Sitting in a house with newly opened holes in the roof, The Rooster puts his hand on his father’s shoulder and says, “Bitch, I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be all right.”
In this moment, readers see that it’s possible for people to transcend superficial differences in order to connect with and support one another. This is what happens when The Rooster consoles his father in the aftermath of a hurricane that damages his house. Although The Rooster doesn’t soothe Lou using words that Lou himself would ever use, he still reaches out to his father in an attempt to make him feel better, demonstrating that he’s there for him in times of hardship. In turn, it becomes clear that supporting loved ones often means overcoming inconsequential differences.
Themes
