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Chapters 42 - 43
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
Jade lies to both Mom and Maxine so she can skip the next two outings. She misses going places and the free food, but she doesn’t miss the lectures about how to be someone she isn’t. Jade lies on her bed thinking and listening to a storm outside. She hears Lee Lee coming and she lets Lee Lee into her room. Lee Lee asks why Mom wants them to talk. Jade tries to evade this but she admits she’s thinking about quitting Woman to Woman. When Lee Lee insists that Jade is too smart to give up on herself, Jade tells her that Woman to Woman makes her feel bad and it doesn’t teach her anything useful. Lee Lee’s expression, however, makes Jade think that Lee Lee believes all of the indignity is worth it, so Jade mentions that Maxine always tries to make Jade feel superior to her friends from her neighborhood.
Staying home from the Woman to Woman meetings allows Jade to hold onto some of her dignity and feel more whole. She’s noted she feels better and more of a whole person when she’s at home, where being black, female, or overweight aren’t seen as problems. Unlike Mom or Maxine, Lee Lee is a peer and so she has more in common with Jade than anyone else. This means that it’s easier for Lee Lee to relate to what Jade says and then provide a reality check that Jade might take seriously.
Themes
Instead of taking Jade’s side, Lee Lee says that Jade needs to talk to someone in charge. She says that they can’t read Jade’s mind—though she agrees that some of this is offensive, she points out that if Jade doesn’t say anything, the organization will never be able to do better. Jade insists that they might not take her seriously and that she shouldn’t have to tell adults how to run their program. Lee Lee notes that regardless, the program is for Jade, so she has nothing to lose by speaking up. Jade promises to think about it and she muses that she’s been so focused on learning Spanish that she’s forgotten to use words she already knows.
Lee Lee essentially insists that Jade is thinking about her situation in the wrong way. While Jade focuses on all the ways Woman to Woman victimizes her, Lee Lee insists that Jade has far more power than she knows. If she uses her voice, she can advocate for change and potentially create a better experience for herself and for the other mentees. When Jade makes the connection, it shows that up to this point she’s been thinking of language in a very narrow way. Now, she sees that learning Spanish isn’t the only way she can become empowered.
Themes
