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Chapter 43. One Year Before 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
Mrs. Charles yells for April, but April closes the door and tells Claudia to hide under Monday’s bed. She sounds desperate, and Claudia can still hear the freezer buzzing downstairs. April says Mrs. Charles will kill both of them if she finds Claudia, and that doesn’t seem like much of an exaggeration. She admits that the last time she saw Monday alive, Monday was with Ma. Claudia gasps, but dives under the bed. The floor is covered in crumbs and mouse poop, and the mattress stinks.
The more that Claudia learns about Monday’s home life, the more sinister Mrs. Charles seems. This is why, suddenly, it doesn’t seem like a funny joke or an exaggeration that Mrs. Charles might kill Claudia and April. Indeed, April as much as confirms here that Mrs. Charles could be to blame for Monday’s death.
Themes
Mrs. Charles bursts into the room, seems skeptical when April says she was asleep, and tells April to come help with Tuesday. April leaves and closes the door. Shuddering, Claudia bumps into a book: Flowers in the Attic. Downstairs, she hears Mrs. Charles changing TV channels and Tuesday laughing. She listens through four episodes of The Simpsons. Then, Tuesday says she’s going upstairs to get her cup, ignoring April’s pleas to stay downstairs. Tuesday bursts into the bedroom and bounces on the bed. Claudia holds in her yelp as the bed squishes her, and she only breathes again when Tuesday leaves.
Hearing The Simpsons again from downstairs shows Claudia that whatever April said, Monday isn’t here—Monday hated The Simpsons. Finding Flowers in the Attic under the bed, meanwhile, is further proof that Monday has been truly gone for a while, since Ms. Paul asked Claudia about this very book months ago.
Themes
As three more episodes of The Simpsons play, Claudia realizes she didn’t leave breadcrumbs for Ma. She cries and mentally asks Monday how to get out. She remembers Monday saying she snuck out of the bathroom window—and realizes that Tuesday left the bedroom door open. Claudia tiptoes out, stuffs Flowers in the Attic into her bag, and creeps into the hall. The TV and the freezer are loud enough to cover up her noise as she sneaks into the bathroom, pulling the door halfway closed behind her. Like the rest of the house, the bathroom is filthy. Claudia notices a box of hair dye—the same one Monday used more than a year ago.
Finally, Claudia realizes how important breadcrumbs are: if something happens to her here, Ma has no way of knowing where Claudia is or if she’s okay. In this case, Monday’s friendship offers Claudia much-needed support when she realizes how to get out of the house. This is also why Monday takes Flowers in the Attic in addition to Monday’s journal—she needs to take these “breadcrumbs” of Monday’s so she can feel close to her friend.
Themes
Claudia climbs onto the toilet and tries to pry the window open. It’s stuck—Monday was stronger. Suddenly, April yells and asks where Mrs. Charles is going. Mrs. Charles shouts back that she’s going to the bathroom. Hearing Monday screaming in her mind, Claudia leaps into the shower and pulls the curtain shut. She curls herself into a ball as Mrs. Charles stomps in and sits on the toilet. The stench makes Claudia heave. Mrs. Charles shouts for April and tells her to get more toilet paper, but April notices Claudia and freezes. She runs away and returns with takeout napkins. Mrs. Charles spits at her to leave.
Now, Claudia understands why Monday snuck out the window when she had to—it’s impossible to get past Mrs. Charles and the TV any other way. Having to hide from Mrs. Charles like this gives Claudia a small taste of what Monday might have dealt with daily and helps her develop empathy for Monday. April’s clear concern for Claudia shows that April isn’t a villain—she cares about Monday, so she cares about Monday’s friends too.
Themes
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Claudia struggles to maintain her position, but the tub is slick. Mrs. Charles flushes and washes her hands—and Claudia slips. Her sneaker squeaks. She rolls into a ball, hoping Mrs. Charles didn’t notice. Mrs. Charles stands still for a few seconds and then walks to the toilet. Claudia thinks this is it. But instead, Mrs. Charles heaves the window open and returns downstairs. Claudia scrambles out and peers out the window. She can’t understand how Monday was able to survive the drop to the trash cans, but she starts to climb anyway. Then, Claudia notices Tuesday in the hallway, staring. After a moment, April and Mrs. Charles call for Tuesday. Tuesday wets herself, and Claudia drops onto the trash cans.
This experience shows Claudia the dangers of venturing out on her own. She doesn’t have her parents or Monday to protect her right now, and she’s going to have to engage in some risky jumps to keep herself safe. But again, this also gives her important insight into what Monday had to live with.
Themes
