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Chapter 53. 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
Michael leads Claudia into Ms. Walker’s house, laughing that he’s never skipped school before. When Claudia asks, Michael reminds her that Ms. Walker is at the church retreat. Claudia mumbles; it’s been a week since she found out and the shock hasn’t worn off yet. She asks Michael when he moves in and he says he’s already started. He says he found something she’ll enjoy and leads her into his dad’s childhood room. There, he pulls out his dad’s old go-go mixes and pops a cassette into the stereo. After a minute, the singer mentions a Claudia in Southeast. Claudia is in awe of this collection. Monday would be too. Claudia’s ears buzz.
Claudia is having to relearn everything now that she remembers Monday is dead. She has two years’ worth of life to catch up on, and it’s no doubt unsettling to know how severely she’s been repressing her memories. But by sharing these old go-go mixes with her, Michael helps Claudia find meaning and purpose in the present. She hasn’t totally let Monday go yet, but by remembering that Monday is gone, Claudia will be able to move forward and heal.
Themes
Michael calls Claudia to him and asks what’s up. She says she remembers her last day of school now and asks why he’s so nice to her. He explains that the last time he saw Monday, she was in Ma’s kitchen. He’d gone with his mom to drop off ribs before the church barbecue. He’d been shocked at how Monday had looked so much like Claudia, and he can’t stop thinking about seeing her on her last day. He keeps thinking it could’ve been Claudia. Claudia leans in and kisses Michael.
Now that Michael has seen what can happen when people don’t have a support network, he thinks it’s even more important to create a strong community and show his friends he cares. This, he realizes, is one of the most effective ways to keep what happened to Monday from happening to anyone else.
Themes
When Claudia gets home, Ma scolds her for not calling to check in. Claudia apologizes and shares that she remembered her last day of school. Ma gasps and then calls Claudia into the kitchen for a talk. It’s time Claudia knows the truth. Ma says that Monday came over right after Claudia left. Something was up, but Ma needed to get to Bible study. She offered to drop Monday at home, and once they pulled up in Ed Borough, Monday started to cry. Ma and Daddy then placed a call to social services. Now, Ma wonders if that call set Mrs. Charles off.
Finally, Claudia discovers that Ma and Daddy did care about Monday and were at least somewhat aware of what was going on. Ultimately, they did step in and try to protect her. But when Ma wonders if the call to social services set Mrs. Charles off, it shows that there can be some risk in doing what a person thinks is the right thing.
Themes
When Claudia hadn’t heard from Monday, Ma figured that social services took Monday out of the house, and she didn’t want Claudia to hate her for her involvement. Now, she knows she made a mistake. She said losing Monday felt like losing another child. Both Ma and Claudia say they loved Monday, and Ma says it’s time for them all to get “some real help.”
Ma kept quiet to protect Monday and then Claudia—but she knows now that keeping secrets doesn’t actually help. Saying the family needs “real help” suggests she thinks it’s time to seek therapy, something that would allow the family to face up to the trauma they’ve experienced and figure out how to move forward.
Themes
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