Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in An American Marriage, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Marriage in Crisis
Parenthood as a Choice
Appearances vs. Reality
The Effects of Incarceration
Race and Class
Summary
Analysis
Roy writes to Walter to say he’s in Mississippi on his way to see Celestial. When he went to the bank he discovered that Olive had started adding the money she would have put into his commissary account into his bank account when she found out Celestial was providing him more than enough money. She put more than $3,500 she made in bake sales into Roy’s account. He tells Walter that he hopes he’ll have two days with Celestial without Andre there so that they can figure out what to do. He tells Walter he’s putting some money on his books.
Roy’s writing to Walter suggests that their bond is strong enough to endure even now that they are not living together. Olive’s wise planning was perhaps based on the assumption that Celestial wouldn’t fully embrace Roy upon his return. Roy reveals his generosity in sharing some of the benefits of Olive’s financial foresight with his biological father, even though Walter never supported Olive or Roy.
Themes
