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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Skin I’m In, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bullying and Insecurity
Self-Esteem, Support, and Friendship
Writing and Self-Expression
The Importance of Role Models
Summary
Analysis
In the office, other teachers complain about Miss Saunders being too pushy and assigning too much homework to the kids. While Maleeka starts to work, Charlese comes in and starts talking to Maleeka—but Miss Carol, the secretary, tells Charlese to go to class. Then, Mr. Pajolli comes out of his office, and Charlese asks if she can work too. Mr. Pajolli says she can if she pays the fines for the books she’s lost. Charlese argues with Mr. Pajolli and says that she would never work for free anyway.
Here, the novel ties Maleeka and Miss Saunders’s situations together in another way. The teachers are picking on Miss Saunders for her different teaching methods, which mimics how students pick on Maleeka for anything different about her—particularly when, like John-John, they see her as trying to act better than the rest of the students. Likewise, the teachers are annoyed by Miss Saunders acting like she’s a better teacher or that she can get more from the students than they can.
Themes
Mr. Pajolli asks what class Charlese has now. She tells him she has math with Tai, and she complains about how boring it is. Mr. Pajolli says that nobody can be bored in Tai’s class, and Maleeka thinks that that’s true. Tai has also been coming into the office and asking Mr. Pajolli if Maleeka can do some of her homework during her office time. Mr. Pajolli agreed, and Maleeka was frustrated and annoyed at all the teachers who’ve been causing her grief.
Like Miss Saunders, Tai is another good mentor for Maleeka and affirms why the office job is beneficial for her, as it helps Maleeka keep her grades up. As Maleeka has proven, it’s not that she has difficulty with math homework—she just isn’t motivated to do it. But when the teachers take Maleeka under their wing, she’s is able to live up to her potential.
Themes
