Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in American Street, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dignity and the American Dream
Spirituality
Family and Loyalty
Identity and the Immigrant Experience
Trauma, Violence, and Desperation
Summary
Analysis
Everyone cries in the car. Fabiola wails, and Pri curses. When they reach the house, they see Dray sitting on the steps. Donna offers to go talk to him, but Chantal says he’s definitely not here to talk—he knows what happened, and they need a plan. The cousins agree that they can’t call Matant Jo, since Uncle Q is probably keeping her away from the house.
Fabiola and her cousins understand immediately that Dray is out for blood. Now that the man he considered his brother is dead, the only thing he knows how to do is lash out in response. And since Fabiola is inadvertently responsible for Kasim’s death, she’s likely Dray’s target.
Themes
Fabiola darts out of the car and approaches Dray. For once, he’s not wearing his eye patch; the eye underneath is gone. He demands to know what happened to Kasim. Chantal gives Fabiola the keys, tells her to get inside, and shouts at Dray to talk to her, Pri, and Donna—not Fabiola. Dray flashes a gun, but Fabiola darts past him and into the house. She runs to her altar and searches for a candle, but Dray pounds up the stairs before Fabiola can do anything.
When Dray shows up without his eye patch, it makes him seem more naked and vulnerable. This allows readers to see that he is grieving; he’s truly upset about what happened to Kasim. But that doesn’t mean he’s not still dangerous. The gun is proof that Dray believes his loyalty requires him to avenge Kasim’s death.
Themes
Dray grabs Fabiola by the hair and arms and drags her out of the room. Pri, Chantal, and Donna grab Fabiola and pull her back. Fabiola digs at Dray’s arms, even though Donna warns her against fighting back. Suddenly, Dray kicks Fabiola’s face, and Fabiola feels numb. He snarls at her to get up and kicks her in the face again. Donna pleads with him to stop and begs Fabiola to talk. Fabiola says Kasim’s name, and with Chantal’s help, she stands up. Shaking, Dray says that Kasim was all he had. Fabiola stands up as tall as she can, and Dray points his gun straight at her. Chantal, Pri, and Donna plead with Dray as he puts the shaking gun to Fabiola’s head.
Dray is wildly out of control. At the same time, Fabiola and her cousins seem unlikely to be able to make Dray stand down on their own. Their loyalty to one another may have gotten them this far, but it might not be enough to save Fabiola. Now that Kasim is dead, saying his name becomes almost a form of prayer for Fabiola. He was the best part of her life until his death, so repeating his name seems like an expression of hope.
Themes
Fabiola feels like Dray’s wall is falling down—but she remembers the earthquake and how, after the walls fell, it unleashed zombies. She vows to take Dray down with her when he kills her. Fabiola isn’t afraid of death, since Death owns half of Matant Jo and will soon own her too. Fabiola tells Dray to kill her and squeezes her eyes shut. She hears a click and a bang—and then, suddenly, things go dark and then light again.
Again, Fabiola draws on Vodou and her past experiences to make the best of a terrifying situation. Even if she can’t control whether or not Dray kills her, she believes that she can still bring him down with her because of her devotion to the lwas. As she stares down her death, this provides comfort.
Themes
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