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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in One Day, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Relationships and Time
Social Class
Coming of Age and the Search for Meaning
Addiction and Recovery
Summary
Analysis
Tuesday, July 15, 1997. Dexter gets news that the TV station is canceling his video-game TV show, Game On. He slowly learns that in fact, the show is still continuing, just with a new, younger presenter. His agent has nothing much coming up for Dexter. He argues with his agent about how Suki and Toby seem to have no problem finding work, but his agent says it’s just their turn to be a fad now.
Dexter’s replacement with a younger presenter is an unwelcome reminder to him that he can’t stay the same forever and that time will move forward whether he’s ready or not. Dexter’s agent seems to recognize on some level how fleeting success in television can be, but Dexter himself struggles to accept this message because it is evidence of how he and the world around him have changed.
Themes
Meanwhile, Emma has a meeting with a legendary publishing figure. She received rejections with all her previous submissions but is convinced that her current book is good, so she called up her old university friend Stephanie Shaw.
Emma’s meeting with a publisher shows that she is more committed than she was in her earlier, scattershot efforts at writing. While she still faces challenges, her life shows an upward trajectory at the moment when Dexter’s is trending down, perhaps suggesting that the benefits or disadvantages of one’s family’s social class become less pronounced further into adulthood.
Themes
Emma enters the office of Marsha Francombe. Marsha is busy and doesn’t seem to remember Emma’s name. She asks how long Emma has been working with children and how she feels about it. Emma says she loves it, although it’s difficult sometimes. Marsha compliments Emma on her good English. She realizes that Marsha thinks she is the young German woman who is applying to be her nanny. Marsha admits she hasn’t read Emma’s work yet and says she tried to call Emma to cancel. She promises to get back in touch with Emma soon but doesn’t specify a time.
Emma’s meeting with Marsha Francombe is humbling because Marsha mistakes her for a potential nanny instead of a writer. Marsha’s admission that she hasn’t read Emma’s work and planned to cancel the meeting further shows how Emma isn’t a priority for Marsha. Nevertheless, despite Emma’s disappointment, this meeting becomes a stepping-stone for Emma, showing the importance of failures and disappointments in progress, something that Dexter struggles with in his own career plans.
Themes
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Emma goes to walk by the Thames, feeling disappointed. She gets a call on her cell phone, realizing only too late that it’s Mr. Godalming calling. He says she’s missing a mandatory staff meeting and now that they’re affair is over, she can’t expect special treatment. Emma gets frustrated and impulsively quits her job, then hangs up on Mr. Godalming.
The meeting with Marsha Francomb, where Emma was treated as a potential nanny instead of a serious writer, seemed to be the last straw for her in letting others underestimate her. Although she quits her job rashly, she ultimately leaves behind a situation where she was stuck in a rut.
Themes
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