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Chapter 32. The After
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
As soon as Claudia and Monday get to school on Monday, Trevor snickers and asks if they’re really gay. Normally Claudia would ignore his teasing, but something seems off. Trevor pulls out his phone and shows them a Facebook picture. It’s of Claudia sitting with Monday’s head in her lap in the bathroom—and given the angle, it looks “confusing.” It’s been shared almost 300 times and liked 1000 times. Monday asks who took it and they notice Jacob staring. Claudia realizes that while she and Monday enjoyed their weekend, everyone else spread rumors about them.
Given what readers have already learned about this photograph, it presumably looks like Monday is performing oral sex on Claudia. Readers will remember that this wasn’t actually the case: Claudia was just comforting Monday as she cried in the bathroom stall. But their school culture is intent on punishing any deviance from the norm, so Monday and Claudia are now the victims of increasing abuse. This explains why Claudia so desperately wants to be normal—at her school, the alternative is deeply painful.
Themes
Ma and Daddy come to the school and threaten to sue if the school won’t launch an investigation. Ma fields calls from neighbors concerned about Claudia’s sexuality. Monday and Claudia hide in Claudia’s room, trying not to worry. Monday thinks Shayla took the picture, but Claudia suspects Jacob—he started the rumors that they’re gay, after all. Monday insists that’s not something he’d do.
It's impossible to tell who took the picture, but Monday is quick to give Jacob the benefit of the doubt. In this situation, Claudia seems to be taking the more impartial view by looking critically at the evidence they have. Emotion clouds Monday’s ability to do so.
Themes
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