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Chapter 10. The Before
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Monday’s Not Coming, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Child Abuse
Family, Community, and Responsibility
Growing Up, Independence, and Friendship
Secrecy and Shame
Poverty, Social Support, and Desperation
Memory, Repression, and Trauma
Summary
Analysis
Claudia writes another note to Monday, lamenting that they won’t be sexy cops this year—Claudia can’t wear that to church. She asks if Monday has her orange cardigan and tells her how disappointed she is to go to the church Halloween party. Many words are misspelled.
The girls’ costume idea indicates that they are starting to grow up and experiment with their sexualities. With Monday gone, Claudia doesn’t feel comfortable engaging in that kind of experimentation all on her own. This points back to her first day at school without Monday, when she felt uncomfortable wearing her hair in a more mature style without Monday there to bolster her confidence.
Themes
Claudia stands by the refreshment table in the church basement, enjoying Ma’s apple pie and observing the boring party. Suddenly, a voice scares her, asking if she’s going to stand there the entire night. The voice belongs to a tall, muscular boy behind Claudia. Claudia doesn’t recognize him at first, but when he introduces himself as Michael, she remembers—this is Mikey. Michael insists he doesn’t use Mikey anymore. He was always the chubby kid, but over the last summer he’s grown into a giant.
Though Claudia feels totally alone, Michael’s willingness to approach her offers hope that this won’t be the case forever. Having to attend the church party instead of trick-or-treating, meanwhile, is a major departure from previous years, and it again forces Claudia to feel the sting of Monday’s absence.
Themes
Michael jokes that he’s here to help with the DJ equipment and asks if Claudia has any requests. She doesn’t remember him being so funny and requests several go-go bands with good dance songs. At this, Michael lights up and asks if Claudia is going to join the dance ministry again. Claudia insists she’s too busy. She’s confused as to why Michael is acting so friendly—and wonders when he got so cute.
In this passage, Claudia’s confusion mirrors the reader’s. In the “Before” timeline, Claudia is still a part of the dance ministry at church, so it seems like she quit sometime between the “Before” and “After” timelines. Further, Claudia seems oddly suspicious of Michael’s friendliness, as well as how he suddenly got more attractive.
Themes
Claudia asks Michael about high school and, when he mentions he’s on the football team, asks if he lost weight that way. Michael asks why Claudia hasn’t been to a harvest party before. Claudia is at a loss and doesn’t know how to explain Monday’s sudden absence, but says that she used to go trick-or-treating with a friend. Michael’s eyes go wide, but Claudia insists that’s kid stuff. When Michael suggests they hang out sometime, Claudia grows suspicious. Michael says she could use a friend. Claudia snappily asks if Ma put him up to this. She doesn’t let him respond before storming away.
Because Claudia has really only had Monday as a friend for years, she doesn’t have the skills to make friends on her own. This explains why she asks Michael questions that come off as rude and struggles to connect with him. Claudia is also trying very hard to look mature, which is why she refers to trick-or-treating as kid stuff. But she’s also struggling with Monday’s disappearance, and that seems to be contributing to her awkwardness.
Themes
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