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Chapter 11: The Serious Willies
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Flipped, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Perception vs. Reality
Family and Identity
First Love
Integrity and Growth
Summary
Analysis
Juli realizes it would be selfish to back out of dinner at the Loskis’, so she resigns herself to going. But when she arrives and sees Bryce, she can no longer contain her anger. She tells him that she overheard his conversation with Garrett, and though Bryce insists Garrett was the one who said those awful things, Juli points out he did nothing to defend her. She avoids him for most of the evening, and when he approaches with an apology before dinner begins, she quickly shuts him down.
Juli’s response to Bryce’s apology suggests that words alone cannot atone for his failure to stand up for her. She makes it clear that silence in the face of meanness and bigotry is just as damaging as speaking those things aloud. Now that she believes he’s shown his true colors, Juli is no longer willing to settle for the boy she once blindly admired.
Active
Themes
Throughout dinner, Juli feels like she’s eating with strangers. It occurs to her that, although they’ve been neighbors for years, the two families hardly know each other. When Lynetta plays one of Matt and Mike’s songs for everyone to hear, Juli notices the pride on her father’s face. Even if the music is loud noise to him and the other adults, Robert is proud because his sons worked hard and achieved this all on their own. After dinner, Juli apologizes to Bryce for being so angry earlier, but he only stares back, almost like he doesn’t hear her.
At dinner, Juli’s sense of estrangement from the Loskis offers a contrast to the love she feels for her own family. Robert’s support for Matt and Mike’s music, despite not fully understanding it, reminds Juli that her family’s closeness is what makes them strong. Her attempt to smooth things over with Bryce afterward only confirms her growing realization that her strength lies in her parents and her brothers, and not in her feelings surrounding Bryce.
Active
Themes
Back home, the Bakers debrief about the evening. Matt and Mike joke about how Mr. Loski was “sniffing” them out all night, but Robert insists they handled themselves well, the pride visible on his face. Juli realizes her father is close to tears. The family ends the evening joking over leftover pie, and Juli goes to bed feeling happy and free. The next morning, as she cleans her chicken coop, Mrs. Stueby suggests she consider acquiring a rooster so her hens will lay more eggs. Juli isn’t sure she wants to become “the neighborhood rancher,” but she admits it feels good to be in charge of her own destiny.
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Themes
