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
The first 10 minutes at school are always the most exciting. That’s when everyone catches up on gossip; it is, in Josie’s opinion, the only reason to come to school. As she listens to the gossip around her one morning, one of the “beautiful people” that nobody likes, Carly Bishop, mentions that the nightclub she went to last night was full of “wogs.” Sick of Carly’s constant racist remarks, Josie calls Carly out. Embarrassed, Carly says she didn’t mean Josie—but Josie insists she’s no different than the “wogs” in the club and doesn’t appreciate Carly’s comments. The argument escalates. Josie calls Carly a “racist pig,” and Carly insults Josie for being illegitimate. So Josie hits Carly in the face with her science book.
Josie shows how much she relies on the gossip mill here, when she talks about attending school in part because of the gossip. But while Josie implies that she feels at home at school in the mornings, while this gossiping is happening, Carly’s use of the racist slur “wog” makes Josie feel again like she doesn’t belong. Wherever Josie goes and however comfortable she might feel, Carly’s use of the slur suggests that Josie will never fully escape racism against Italian Australians.
Themes
Josie finds herself in Sister Louise’s office, with Carly’s father, Mr. Bishop, yelling at her for breaking Carly’s nose. He’s a talk-show host, but he doesn’t look as handsome in person as he does on TV. He grows angrier and angrier and tells Josie to call her lawyer. Josie wants to laugh since she doesn't have one and they’re called barristers in Australia, but she stays silent. As Mr. Bishop takes Josie’s science book as evidence for court, Josie still doesn’t talk. She doesn’t feel she can call Carly out for her rude, racist remarks without getting a lecture from Sister Louise about “sticks and stones.”
The aside that Mr. Bishop doesn’t look anything like he does on TV is another indicator that Josie might be inappropriately idealizing wealth and prestige—wealth, in this case, doesn’t make a person beautiful. The way that Mr. Bishop yells at Josie to call her lawyer drives home how wealthy he is in comparison to her. And it’s also telling that Josie doesn’t think she can tell the truth about what Carly did. This suggests that she doesn’t trust Sister Louise and the school administration to take racist incidences seriously.
Themes
As Mr. Bishop’s shouting gets louder, Josie finally says that she can call her father—he’s a barrister. Carly shouts that Josie doesn’t have a father, but Josie explains he just moved from Adelaide. She looks up Michael Andretti’s law firm in the phone book and tells his secretary that she needs him at school. Josie’s shaking when she hangs up. She’s certain Michael won’t come, but she prays anyway for God to not let her “become the laughingstock of the school.” Carly continues to sob about her broken nose and Josie wonders how well people like Carly actually survive in the real world.
Calling Michael shows that Josie sees him as a tool she can use to improve her social standing at school—even though she resents him. On the off chance that he does show up, Josie will suddenly be not so different from her peers in that she’ll have a successful father. As Josie wonders how “people like Carly” survive in the real world, it shows that she’s starting to rethink whether wealth will give her what she wants. Clearly, having money doesn’t make Carly a pleasant person.
Themes
To everyone’s surprise, Michael walks into Sister Louise’s office a half hour later. He glares at Josie and, when Mr. Bishop says Josie broke Carly’s nose with a book, he deems that “interesting.” He asks Josie for the story and Josie asks to speak to him in private. Sister Louise shows Josie and Michael into the secretary’s office. Josie explains that she’s desperate to not be expelled (though she’d love a suspension) and if Michael helps her, she’ll leave him alone forever. But she refuses to tell him what happened. After a few minutes of shouting at each other, Josie tells Michael to leave.
The fact that Michael shows up to help Josie suggests that Josie may have underestimated him. He might be more willing to connect with her than either of them thought, though Josie is still working off of the assumption that he wants nothing to do with her. Josie’s unwillingness to tell Michael what happened suggests that she thinks she’s overreacting. She doesn’t think she should be so upset about being called a slur—but yet, she is upset.
Themes
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Michael tells Josie she’ll never make it in a courtroom if she’s not honest. Josie pauses and says Carly called her a “wog.” Michael points out that Josie is a “wog” and asks if that offends her. Josie explains that she doesn’t care if other Europeans use the slur—but it makes her furious when Australians use it. Michael asks if Josie provoked Carly. Josie did: she called Carly a “racist pig,” but that’s totally true. With a sigh, Michael stands, tells Josie to not be offended about being a “wog,” and leads her back into Sister Louise’s office. He and Mr. Bishop go back into the secretary’s office to talk.
Though Josie is called an offensive slur for an Italian person, Michael essentially tells Josie that she shouldn’t be ashamed of being Italian. She is Italian, whether she likes it or not—and Michael implies that Josie should like it. With this pep talk, Michael starts to help Josie come to terms with her identity and how she fits in at school. This offers hope that Michael’s new perspective may help Josie come of age.
Themes
Josie tries not to look at Sister Louise or Carly as they wait. She’s shocked that Michael came to defend her. Finally, Michael and Mr. Bishop come out of the office; Michael says they’re done and asks Mr. Bishop to give Josie her science book back. After the Bishops leave, Michael smiles at Sister Louise and asks her to not suspend Josie, since Josie wants to be suspended. Sister Louise suspends Josie for the rest of the day and assigns her administrative work as detention. Then, Josie walks out of the school next to Michael. She asks him about court and he tells her about it. Josie knows he sounds impressive to her peers—and for the first time, she knows how awesome it is to walk with one’s dad.
Though Josie previously scorned Michael for treating her like a father might treat a child, here, Josie has no choice but to accept it when Michael tells Sister Louise to not suspend Josie. Their relationship is already becoming more like one between a father and daughter. The way that Josie manipulates Michael’s presence to make herself looks better shows that Josie knows how to use gossip to her advantage. Here, she’s able to make it seem like she has a prestigious father—just like her wealthy classmates.
Themes
