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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Such a Fun Age, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
External Behavior vs. Internal Truth
White Guilt, Ignorance, and Redemption
The Quest for Meaning
Race, Class, and Privilege
Summary
Analysis
Later that night, Emira heads to Shaunie’s apartment. Shaunie greets Emira excitedly and announces that she’s been hired as a marketing specialist at Sony Philadelphia. Zara, still dressed in scrubs, sings a song to celebrate Shaunie’s latest achievement. Josefa calls to Emira from the kitchen, asking if she’d like a drink. Emira tells her she’ll take whatever alcohol they have. Emira looks around Shaunie’s apartment (Shaunie’s father co-signed the lease) as she waits for her drink. It looks a little like a college dorm, but the overall atmosphere is distinctly adult—and now Shaunie has an adult job to go with it.
Once more, Emira remains aware of her and her friends’ class differences, even as they are preparing to leave for a night out. The detail about Shaunie’s father co-signing the lease of her apartment gestures toward how having wealthy parents has made Shaunie’s life easier. Another important idea this scene reveals is how Emira associates material wealth with adulthood. She feels like less of a grown-up next to her friends, who all have successful careers.
Themes
Josefa passes Emira a glass of wine. Then she announces that they’re going out tonight. This is a surprise to Emira, who thought the plan was to watch Netflix, order takeout, and drink wine. Emira tells Josefa she’s a little tired. Really, though, Emira is mostly concerned about money—it’s almost the first of the month, and soon, almost all her money will go toward rent. Josefa doesn’t understand why Emira is so tired—she only babysat today. Inwardly, Emira notes that Josefa would never tell Zara that she “only nursed today.” But she keeps her thoughts to herself. Josefa tells Emira that she aced an exam today and wants to celebrate. Emira responds unenthusiastically, but nobody seems to notice.
Emira makes a valid point about the way society undervalues domestic labor and caregiving. Yet Josefa’s offhanded comment about Emira “only” babysitting today seems less Josefa’s attempt to harm Emira than it is Emira’s projecting her own insecurities onto other people. Emira doesn’t think her work matters, and so she thinks that the rest of the world thinks this, too.
Themes
Emira worries that if Zara goes out without her, she might realize that Emira isn’t her closest friend and dump her. Shaunie tells Emira she can borrow any going-out clothes she’d like. Zara follows Shaunie into her bedroom to raid Shaunie’s closet while Emira locks herself in the bathroom. Alone, Emira thinks about all the constant praise Shaunie receives. It seems like she has something new to celebrate every week, whether it be her cute new boyfriend or her amazing new internship.
Emira is possessive of Zara because of her own insecurities. She’s worried that her lack of ambition, her lack of a career, and her lack of funds make her less valuable as a person. This shows how Emira’s shortage of privilege affects her emotionally as well as practically. This chapter also makes it clear that Emira is jealous and even somewhat resentful of her friends’ successes.
Themes
But what’s really upsetting Emira is the fact that Mrs. Chamberlain lied to Briar about her dead fish. Emira remembers a time she witnessed Mrs. Chamberlain being a good mother. Emira had seem them from afar at the post office. Briar was overstimulated by everything going on around her, and Mrs. Chamberlain sang to Briar to calm her. Having seen this, Emira realizes that when Mrs. Chamberlain is being a bad mother, it’s a choice she’s making—not a flaw she can’t control. Also, Emira thinks now, Laney Thacker is actually really nice; she’d offered to help Emira at the birthday party, and she’d tucked in the tag on Emira’s polo shirt.
That Emira is still hung up on the way Alix handled Spoons’s death and Briar’s Halloween ballet recital shows how deeply and genuinely Emira cares for Briar. It’s a bit ironic, then, that Emira thinks she has no ambition or passion in life, since it’s clear that she has an instinct for childcare and takes her babysitting work seriously. Her inability to see this reflects the depth of her insecurity, as well as society’s broader lack of regard for childcare and other forms of domestic labor.
Themes
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Zara knocks on the bathroom door but then barges in anyway. Emira appreciates Zara. Even though Zara has always known she’s wanted to be a nurse, she doesn’t judge Emira for being a little lost in life. Now, Emira tells Zara she’s had a bad day. Inwardly, Emira reflects on everything that’s troubling her, such as Mrs. Chamberlain’s indifference toward Briar and how Emira’s guilt about leaving Briar complicates her desire to stop working for the Chamberlains. But Emira doesn’t tell Zara any of this.
Even though Emira is totally preoccupied with thoughts about Briar and Mrs. Chamberlain, she doesn’t reveal them to Zara. This suggests that Emira is embarrassed by how much she cares—that she thinks Zara will judge her or think Emira’s priorities aren’t straight. Again, Emira’s inability to open up to Zara shows how insecure she is about her place in life and how much she undervalues her babysitting work.
Themes
Zara understands that Emira’s had a bad day. But she also insists that Emira get over herself and act happy for Shaunie. When Emira tells Zara that she hates her job and needs to quit, Zara offers to help Emira fill out job applications. Then she reminds Emira that she has to join them on their trip to Mexico. Emira plays along, but she secretly anguishes over how different her financial situation is from her friends’: unlike them, Emira doesn’t have vacation days, and so she loses money any day she isn’t working.
Zara makes a good point—it’s only hurting Emira and the people she cares about to sulk about her own shortcomings and not be happy for Shaunie. At the same time, though, Zara’s relative financial security prevents her from understanding how significantly and constantly issues of class and financial hardship weigh on Emira. When her economic position consistently closes doors for her, it’s hard for Emira to simply ignore her financial woes.
Themes
After her chat with Zara, Emira approaches Shaunie, invites her to do a shot, and congratulates her on her new job. Shaunie hugs Emira. Then she quietly tells her that she plans to move into a studio or one-bedroom apartment—and that Emira is welcome to move into her old room once she finds a new place. Emira’s current roommate is a Temple graduate student who spends half the week at her boyfriend’s place. Their apartment is small and falling apart, but the rent is cheap. Shaunie’s apartment is undoubtedly nicer and in a cooler location. But Shaunie would take all her things from it when she moved out, including the HBO subscription (which her father pays for). Still, Emira is interested—at least until Shaunie replies that the rent is $1150, which is way more than Emira can afford. Before Emira can respond, Shaunie leaves to take a call from her boyfriend, Troy.
Emira’s effort to set aside her money anxieties to support Shaunie last only a short while—when Shaunie characterizes $1150 per month as reasonable and affordable rent, it immediately reminds Emira of how different her world is than her more financially table friends. Not only does Shaunie’s employment give her more financial stability, but the help she receives from her wealthy parents (like how she doesn’t have to pay for cable subscriptions) cuts down on costs, too.
Themes
After speaking with Shaunie, Emira sneaks out onto the fire escape and closes the window behind her. She calls Kelley, who picks up on the second ring. He’s at a tech conference in Cleveland but senses something is wrong. Emira tells him she had a bad day. Kelley did, too. They exchange stories, and Emira tells Kelley about Spoons and about Briar’s missed Halloween party. Kelley sympathizes. Then he tells her that even though he won’t be back until tomorrow morning, Emira is free to sleep at his place tonight if she just wants to get away from everything—he’ll tell the doorman to expect her. Emira tell him she’ll think about it.
Kelley is at least as financially secure as Emira’s friends—he makes enough to live in a place with a doorman, at least. But his outward sympathy toward Emira’s struggles and insecurities makes her gravitate toward him, while her friends’ lack of sympathy alienates Emira from them. At any rate, though Kelley has raised some red flags, his and Emira’s relationship seems to be moving in a positive direction, and this opens the possibility that Alix, so desperate to insert herself into Emira’s private life, will eventually meet Kelley—and then, undoubtedly, drama will ensue.
Themes
