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Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tell Me Three Things, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Blended Families
Intimacy and Growing Up
Wealth, Fitting In, and Bullying
Home
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Mrs. Pollack asks if anyone has read T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. Nobody raises a hand, though Jessie did read it a few years ago. Her mom used to read poetry, and Jessie regrets not asking her mom about all the notes she made in the margins. This regret, she thinks, is the worst part of someone dying. Now, all of Mom’s books are molding in a storage unit in Chicago.
Jessie is clearly preoccupied with thoughts of her mom and the life she left behind. While this is entirely understandable—grief isn’t something that goes away quickly—it does mean that Jessie is perhaps less willing to try to integrate into her new life in California. Because she doesn’t have friends here, she turns to the one person who will always be there for her: her mom’s memory.
Themes
Jessie likes Mrs. Pollack. She introduced Jessie on the first day but didn’t make her stand up. Mrs. Pollack says that The Waste Land is hard and gets the class to cheer before telling them to find a partner with whom to read the poem for the next two months. Everyone else finds a partner immediately. As Jessie prepares to raise her hand to ask for help, someone taps her shoulder. It’s the Batman. Jessie nods.
Mrs. Pollack seems to be aware of some of the ins and outs of the social hierarchy at school, given that she spared Jessie the embarrassment of having to stand up on the first day. This suggests that there are authority figures Jessie can trust to look out for her.
Themes
Jessie spends the rest of class wondering why the Batman picked her. Maybe she looks smart, or maybe he’s just doing a nice thing. He did see the blonde girls—who Jessie learned are hilariously named Gem and Crystal—torment Jessie. As the bell rings, the Batman stops at Jessie’s desk. Jessie stares at him, overwhelmed by how attractive he is, and asks if they should exchange numbers. The Batman says he’ll do the assignment and put their names on it. He assures Jessie she’ll get an A and leaves. Jessie is flabbergasted. She texts Scarlett, who offers condolences and says that SN is totally a secret admirer. Scarlett also suggests that Jessie find someone local to help her, specifically SN.
When the Batman completely brushes Jessie off, it makes Jessie feel even more like she doesn’t matter. Not only does she have to suffer the indignity of Gem and Crystal’s bullying, now she can’t even do an assignment she’s secretly excited to do. It’s even more of a letdown since Jessie had hoped that the Batman might actually be a nice person and a friend. Scarlett is onto something when she suggests Jessie find a local friend—although Scarlett can provide support, she can’t help Jessie navigate Wood Valley as well as someone local can.
Themes
Jessie emails SN and asks for help. She adds an aside that if SN is Deena, Deena wins. SN asks who Deena is and answers Jessie’s questions. He tells Jessie to befriend Adrianna Sanchez, explains that WV Giving Day is a service day with Habitat for Humanity, and the lunch cards aren’t preloaded. Jessie asks if everyone is rich and SN confirms that except for a few scholarship kids, everyone is indeed rich. Jessie feels even more out of her element. Dad is a pharmacist, and in Chicago, they were normal in terms of finances. Dad and Mom traveled instead of buying stuff. Suddenly, Jessie feels enraged at the Batman for insisting on doing their project. She actually has to earn a scholarship to college and she knows what he proposes is technically cheating. Jessie thinks she hates everything and tells SN that the school sucks.
Though having it confirmed that everyone at Wood Valley is wealthy doesn’t make Jessie feel any better, it does spell out exactly what she’s up against. Once again, Jessie compares her old life to her new one, focusing most of her attention on how Wood Valley is horrible by comparison. With this kind of a mindset, it’ll be even harder for Jessie to integrate into Wood Valley—but deciding to call the Batman out on his bad behavior is a step in the right direction. By standing up for herself, Jessie can begin to make a place for herself.
Themes
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