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Chapter 3
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
The next day, Alix straps her kids into a double stroller and goes for a jog. After a few miles, she buys a coffee and sits down on a bench outside the café. Then she sends a group text to Jodi, Rachel, and Tamra telling them she urgently needs to talk to them. Alix considers her friends. Jodi is a children’s casting director, and she and her husband Walter have two young, redheaded children of their own. Rachel is Jewish and Japanese, and she manages a firm that designs book covers. She also has a five-year-old son named Hudson. And Tamra is the principal of a private school in Manhattan. She has two girls with afros, Imani and Cleo. The older child, though only four years old, is already fully literate and speaks French.
The novel portrays Alix as a stereotypical upper-class stay-at-home mom who carts her children around in an expensive stroller (when she’s not paying another less privileged woman to take care of them for her) and spends leisurely afternoons sipping fancy coffees. From the elite-sounding careers of Alix’s friends (and the posh activities of their children), readers can assume that they, too, belong to the upper class.
Themes
Sitting on the bench, Alix has a group phone call with her friends and tells them about everything that’s happened lately. Everyone is shocked. Rachel thinks none of this would’ve happened in New York. Inwardly, Alix anguishes over how little attention she’s paid Emira as a person in the months Emira has worked for her. Rachel suggests that the Chamberlains could help Emira sue the store. Alix agonizes to her friends about the possibility of losing Emira because of the incident: if Emira quits, Alix will never be able to finish her book. She hasn’t been doing well. Alix also admits to her friends that she’s gained weight since leaving the city.
Alix tries to convince her friends—and herself—that she’s concerned about the Market Depot incident for the way it has affected Emira, yet this scene suggests that Alix is really concerned about herself: she’s afraid that the incident will make Emira want to quit working for the Chamberlains, which will make it more difficult for Alix to finish her book. Not only is Alix’s response selfish and ignorant, but it’s also blatantly untrue—Alix, through Peter’s coworkers, would have no shortage of totally qualified and trustworthy replacements for Emira, should she decide to quit.
Themes
Alix’s friends help her brainstorm about what to do. Tamra thinks Alix should be honest and apologize to Emira—but she should also understand that Emira might not respond. Alix wonders aloud if the whole thing is her fault, since she’s the one who sent Emira to Market Depot. Jodi changes the subject and, her voice heavy with concern, asks Alix how much weight she’s gained. Alix admits that she’s gained quite a few pounds. Alix’s friends then stage “a very kind and very supportive [intervention].” Rachel suggests a juice cleanse.
Tamra offers sound advice about how to handle the Market Depot incident. But Jodi and Rachel’s feedback is considerably less helpful; Jodi’s concern over Alix’s weight gain shows that Alix’s friends care about external appearances at least as much as Alix does, and perhaps enable and encourage Alix’s superficiality.
Themes
Alix calls Emira the morning of Briar’s birthday, but Emira doesn’t pick up. When Alix tries again later, Emira picks up, but it’s clear she’s just woken up. Emira tells Alix she’ll be at Briar’s birthday party later that day. She doesn’t say anything about the Market Depot incident.
Emira continues to act as though the Market Depot incident didn’t happen. This just shows how much more used to witnessing injustice she is than Alix, who it’s possible has only infrequently—if ever—seen racial profiling.
Themes
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Briar’s birthday party is airplane-themed—Alix thinks it’s worthwhile to encourage Briar’s interest in airplanes, which is one of her more conventional interests. The house is decorated with a cloud-covered tapestry, white balloons, and Alix has assembled aviation-themed party favors for Briar’s young guests.
It's plausible that Alix wants to encourage Briar’s interest in airplanes (but not her more unusual interests) not for Briar’s sake, but because it conforms to her business’s brand of empowering women to speak up and infiltrate male-dominated workspaces (an overwhelming majority of pilots are men).
Themes
Emira arrives at 11:45 carrying a bowl with a ribbon tied around it; a goldfish swims inside the bowl. Alix runs downstairs to greet Emira as Emira hangs her backpack on the coatrack and slips on one of Alix’s old LetHer Speak polos, which had become Emira’s unofficial “uniform” after Alix loaned her one so she wouldn’t dirty her clothes while painting with Briar. Alix recalls this memory fondly and asks Emira if she can give her a hug. They hug, but it’s awkward. Alix tries to get Emira to talk about the Market Depot incident and offers to help her file a civil suit. But Emira only laughs and shrugs the whole thing off—she doesn’t want to make a big deal of the incident.
Whereas Alix plans Briar’s birthday party around a theme that will support her business’s message of female empowerment, Emira get Briar a fish for the simple fact that little kids tend to like fish—she has no ulterior motives. The LetHer Speak polo will gain more significance later on, but for now, it’s important to note that Emira’s “uniform” is a visual reminder that Emira works for Alix and, indirectly, Alix’s business (since watching Briar theoretically allows Alix to spend more time on her work). This moment is also important for Alix because how Emira acts at this party will indicate whether the Market Depot incident was enough to make Emira want to quit working for the Chamberlains, or whether she will be able to move past it. Right now, it seems that Alix is far more upset over the incident than Emira, which perhaps reflects how accustomed Emira is to racial profiling versus how alien an experience it is for Alix.
Themes
The party guests arrive, including Peter’s coworkers. Alix has never really noticed her and Peter’s age difference, but being around his coworkers makes her feel like she’s hanging out with a group of her parents’ friends. The female coworkers arrive in fit-and-flare dresses that are overly formal and gaudy. The men look like Ken dolls in their polo shirts and khakis. Peter’s coworkers joke about the still-broken window—they act like Peter has been the victim of a harmless hazing ritual and is now part of the club. Nobody at the party has heard of Alix or LetHer Speak, and nobody seems to understand exactly what she does.
Peter is only eight years older than Alix—hardly a huge age gap in the grand scheme of things—so Alix’s feeling out of place and childish surrounded by Peter’s coworkers reinforces the idea that she feels unfulfilled and lost in life. The way Alix judges the coworkers’ clothing as over-the-top reinforces the high value she places on appearances.
Themes
Laney Thacker, Peter’s co-anchor, arrives with her four-year-old daughter, Bella. Laney hugs Alix and introduces herself in an overly friendly way. Back in New York, Alix used to go to birthday parties with her friends all the time. They’d stand to the side and drink wine and scoff at overly extravagant décor and party favors. Alix thinks the women here are pretending they live in Manhattan but doing a horrible job of it—they’re trying too hard. Alix longs to find a friend she wouldn’t mind just hanging out with or going to yoga classes together.
Alix’s criticisms about the Philadelphia women reveal her lack of introspection. She’s acting as though she doesn’t care about appearances and so resents these women’s superficiality, when her real issue with them is their taste. Alix prides herself on her minimalism, yet minimalism is still a choice—a way of presenting oneself to the world to put forth a specific, curated image about what one’s values are.
Themes
Later, it’s time for presents. Briar decides she’s bored of this almost immediately. As Emira and Peter take care of Briar, Alix unwraps all the gifts for her daughter. When she has a moment to herself, Alix texts her friends about how much she hates everyone here. Her home is filled with the type of mother that Alix hates: they all sport a full face of makeup and cork wedge sandals. Alix isn’t like these women and doesn’t want to be. Laney keeps trying to connect with Alix, suggesting they have a cocktail hour while their kids are napping sometime. Alix realizes that Laney is trying to show Alix that she’s “a girl’s girl” and not up to anything with Peter even though they’re coworkers. Alix feels guilty that the thought hadn’t ever crossed her mind—Laney has an off-putting personality and isn’t horribly attractive.
Again, Alix is critiquing these women’s put-on appearances as though her own appearance isn’t a conscious decision—a way she is choosing to look and act so that the outer world sees her the way she wants to be seen. And Alix’s catty judgment of Laney as non-threatening due to Laney’s looks suggests that Alix is capable of just as much fakery as the women she critiques. Still, Alix feels guilty for being mean to Laney, if only in her head, which adds another dynamic to Alix’s character: she’s overly concerned with appearances, yet, but she’s also a person who wants to actually be a good person, not just appear like one to others.
Themes
Alix watches Emira interact with Briar. She texts her friends again and amends her earlier statement: “I hate everyone except my sitter.” Tamra replies that Alix should give Emira a raise; Rachel suggests an Edible Arrangement. That night, Briar falls asleep watching Spoons (her new goldfish) swim in circles.
Coming after Alix’s extended criticism of Peter’s coworkers’ appearances, it seems reasonable to take Alix’s approval of Emira with a grain of salt. Does she love Emira for how much Emira cares about Briar, or does she like how having somebody like Emira in her life makes Alix appear to others?
Themes
