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Chapter 5
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Foster, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family
Loss and Grief
Parenting and Judgment
Secrets and Shame
Money and Priorities
Summary
Analysis
On a Thursday near the end of summer, at the end of the day, John asks the girl to go get the mail. He times her once more, and when she returns, he says that her time is 19 seconds faster than the first time she ran to get the mail. In the mail, there’s a letter from Mary addressed to Edna. Edna opens the letter. She says that school starts on Monday, and Mary wants the girl to come home over the weekend so she’ll be ready to go. The girl asks if she has to leave and then starts crying. Edna comforts her and asks her to pick a pattern out of a book so she can make a sweater for the girl.
After the girl feels like she has formed a familial bond with John, she receives word that she must go home. The girl cries, showing how close she has grown to John and Edna during the summer they’ve spent together. Notably, at the end of this scene, Edna says that she plans to knit a sweater for the girl, showing once more how John, Edna, and the girl have formed a familial bond despite not being related.
Active
Themes
