LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Transcendent Kingdom, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Religion
Self-Discovery, Identity, and Individuality
Addiction, Depression, and Control
Trauma, Caretaking, and Intimacy
Summary
Analysis
In an excerpt from Gifty’s childhood journal, she tells God that she and Nana raced to the car after church, and she almost won. She is sure she will beat him next time. In a second excerpt, she asks God to bless Nana and her mother and to let Nana get a dog.
These excerpts from Gifty’s journal show the simplicity of her childhood faith, how centered her world is around her mother and her brother, and how loving and complete her world felt when Nana was still in it. They help to contextualize the magnitude of the loss Gifty and her mother suffered when Nana died.