Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Al Capone Does My Shirts, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Disability, Dignity, and Shared Humanity
Friendship and Community
Family
Growing Up and Doing the Right Thing
Summary
Analysis
Moose takes snacks to his room to read. He comes back to earth hearing knocking on the door, and he opens it to Mrs. Caconi. She lives by the phone and tells Moose that his family got a call. Moose decides to answer it himself, rather than wake Dad or try to fetch Mom. Mr. Purdy, the headmaster at the Esther P. Marinoff School, is on the phone. He tells Moose that they must come pick Natalie up tonight; she’s not ready to be at the school. Moose argues, but Mr. Purdy says it quickly became clear she’s not a great fit. He hangs up. Moose is flabbergasted—you can’t get to know Natalie in one day. What did she do? Moose wants to return home to Santa Monica, but not if he has to give this news to Mom.
Though Mr. Purdy offers no details about why Natalie isn’t a great fit, Moose—likely correctly—believes that the staff there didn’t take the time to view Natalie as a fellow person and get to know her as such. This suggests that Moose was perhaps correct that the Esther P. Marinoff wasn’t right for Natalie, if only because they’re seemingly unwilling or unable to treat her with dignity and compassion.
Themes
When Moose gets back to the apartment, Mom is home, stinking of perm chemicals and perfume and wearing a new dress. Moose says she’s beautiful, but his voice cracks and Mom can tell he isn’t okay. She tells him that it was hard to leave Natalie, but they did the right thing. Moose walks away to wake Dad up. Shaking Dad, Moose tells him the news and that Mom doesn’t know yet. Dad takes a deep breath.
Moose’s description of Mom highlights how fragile she is: she’s trying hard to put her best foot forward with the perm, the dress, and the perfume, but the whole look isn’t really working. In fact, it’s obvious that it’s just a ruse, since she’s chemically changing her hair and her scent—underneath, it’s implied, Mom still isn’t doing well emotionally.
Themes
