Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Looking for Alibrandi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family
Identity, Freedom, and Coming of Age
The Immigrant Experience
Gossip and Appearances
Social Status and Wealth
Love and Relationships
Summary
Analysis
It’s “tomato day.” Josie sits with her whole family in Nonna’s backyard, processing tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce. She and Robert call it “Wog Day.” Zia Patrizia reminds Josie that they’ve been doing this for more than 40 years. She sits next to Nonna, and Josie wishes Mama would sit over here and rescue her from the old ladies’ gossip. But then, Zia Patrizia asks Nonna if she remembers the year Marcus Sandford helped on tomato day. Both Josie and Robert perk up. Zia Patrizia explains that Marcus was an Australian policeman who helped them when Nonno and Zio Ricardo were imprisoned in a camp for Italian men during World War II.
The fact that Josie and Robert call this day after the slur for Italians illuminates how embarrassed they feel about certain aspects of their Italian culture. And not only is it shameful (in Josie’s opinion) that the family makes their own tomato sauce, Josie also has to listen to the old ladies gossip on this day. This historically hasn’t interested Josie at all—but when Zia Patrizia brings up Marcus Sandford, Josie realizes she might be able to learn more about him, since Nonna hasn’t told her much.
Themes
Nonna and Zia Patrizia theatrically tell the story of Nonna going to speak to the army to ask them to give their husbands back. The army refused, and on her way home, Nonna ran into Marcus. She hadn’t seen him in two years by this point. He tried to get Nonno and Zio Ricardo released, but he couldn’t. So Marcus helped the women garden, process tomatoes, and even delivered one of Robert’s uncles.
Australia interned Italians during World War II because of a misguided fear that they’d conspire with Japanese invaders. And Nonna and Zia Patrizia show what the consequences of Australia’s racist policies were: Nonna and Zia Patrizia were on their own to survive. It’s only because of luck that they had Marcus to help.
Themes
Zia Patrizia says that Marcus loved her “little Roberto,” and Robert asks if that’s the one who died. The old ladies cross themselves and Nonna says that one day, they couldn’t find Roberto. Finally, late in the night, Marcus came back with Roberto’s body in his arms—the boy had drowned in the creek. Nonna says that she blamed Australia for Roberto’s death, since it was the country’s policy of imprisoning Italian men that meant Zia Patrizia was too busy to keep track of the boy. Zia Patrizia says that after that, they never saw Marcus again. Josie notices Nonna’s expression and thinks that Nonna saw Marcus again, but she takes another tub of tomatoes and goes to sit with Mama. The family has spaghetti that night. It’s a tradition that Josie knows she’ll never stop observing.
Even worse than taking away their husbands, Australia’s policy of interning Italian men meant that Zia Patrizia wasn’t able to properly care for her family. Racism, this shows, can kill—even indirectly. But as Josie watches Zia Patrizia and Nonna tell this story, she starts to suspect that there’s more to it than Nonna is letting on. Clearly, there are things about Nonna’s relationship with Marcus that the extended family doesn’t know about. When Josie talks about always observing spaghetti after Tomato Day, it’s with pride—she may find some parts of being Italian shameful, while others are fulfilling.
Themes
