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Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Piecing Me Together, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Intersectionality, Identity, and Discrimination
The Power of Language
Mentorship, Opportunity, and Dignity
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
On her birthday, Jade wakes up to pancakes and bacon. Over breakfast, Jade shares that she’s going to go out to eat with Sam and Lee Lee. Later, Dad is going to stop by and drop off his gift. E.J. asks if Dad is buying things with wishes or with “that white lady’s money,” and Jade shouts back that E.J. is living off of Mom in the same way he thinks Dad is living off of his fiancée. Jade locks herself in her room until after E.J. and Mom leave. Both Sam and Lee Lee call and cancel because of illness and punishment, so Jade spends the day sleeping. E.J. gets home around dusk and by 11 p.m., Dad still hasn’t come. Jade goes to her room, but E.J. calls her back out for cheesecake and to say he loves her.
No one in the novel is free of prejudice—though E.J. seems to have no reason to think kindly of Dad, attacking the fact that Dad is unemployed by talking about his fiancée suggests that E.J. has more issues with the white fiancée than with the unemployment, since E.J. is also unemployed. Despite this spat, E.J.’s cheesecake offering shows that Jade does indeed have a robust network to support and love her—Mrs. Parker’s assumptions that Jade is alone are clearly incorrect.
Themes
