Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Monday’s Not Coming, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Child Abuse
Family, Community, and Responsibility
Growing Up, Independence, and Friendship
Secrecy and Shame
Poverty, Social Support, and Desperation
Memory, Repression, and Trauma
Summary
Analysis
Claudia is at Uncle Robby’s house, watching Daddy’s band practice for a new set. Since Ma won’t let Claudia actually go to the show, she has to settle for this—though she’d give anything to go. When the band wraps up, Daddy leads Claudia to the car. He says she seems quiet and asks about the lump on her forehead. Claudia tells him she ran into a wall, but he doesn’t believe her. He thinks a boy hurt her. As Daddy starts the car, he reminds Claudia that she can tell him anything. Claudia responds that disappointments are part of life, revealing that she heard her parents’ conversation not long ago.
Having recently learned that Daddy thinks she just needs to just get over Monday’s absence and move on, Claudia doesn’t feel as willing to trust him. So though Daddy tells her here that she can talk to him about anything, he’s also sending mixed messages since he clearly doesn’t want to hear any more about Monday. Claudia once again ends up keeping secrets from her parents in order to please them.
Themes
Claudia continues to refuse to tell Daddy what’s wrong, insisting he’ll think she’s a baby if she speaks up. They drive in silence the long way home, past the D.C. monuments. Close to home, Daddy asks if he ever told Claudia about the day she was born. Claudia knows that Ma was in labor for 19 hours, but she’s never heard about Ma’s pregnancy. Daddy says that Claudia wanted to be born badly. She kicked incessantly, and Ma was sick for months and had fake contractions all the time. They went to the hospital twice for bleeding. Even though Claudia was born too early, it was a relief that Ma didn’t have to be pregnant anymore.
Daddy makes Ma’s pregnancy sound both uncomfortable and dangerous. Mentioning that they went to the hospital for “bleeding” suggests that Ma may have been at risk of miscarrying her pregnancy with Claudia, just as she miscarried the four other babies after her. Telling Claudia about it is a way for Daddy to show her he trusts her with heavy, painful information like this.
Themes
Claudia realizes that Ma was suffering the entire time she was pregnant. Daddy admits that Ma didn’t want Claudia to know how hard it was because she doesn’t want Claudia to blame herself—and this has nothing to do with Ma’s other miscarriages. Daddy says that regardless, Claudia came into the world to make everyone else happy, and he wants her to keep living—even without Monday around. Thrilled to have made Claudia feel loved, Daddy suggests they get fried rice at Mr. Chang’s and not tell Ma.
Claudia wants Ma to be happy and well, so it’s uncomfortable to learn the truth about Ma’s pregnancy. But by learning this history, Claudia can better make sense of her own story and develop empathy for her family members. And when Daddy brings this around to remind Claudia that she should be happy, it suggests he thinks she’ll be able to achieve a happier life by learning these uncomfortable truths.
Themes
When Claudia steps into the restaurant, she bumps into April. Daddy greets April happily and little Tuesday comes out from behind April to hug Claudia. As Claudia embraces the little girl, she notices that she smells like a dirty diaper. April looks ready to run, but when asked, she tells Claudia and Daddy that Monday is back home. Claudia asks Tuesday if she’s been playing with Monday, and Tuesday says she is—but Monday is “always hiding in the closet.” April looks spooked and says Tuesday is playing; Monday’s at Tip’s. Daddy doesn’t notice April’s trembling hands or Claudia’s anger. Tuesday asks Claudia if she’ll come and play and Claudia promises she will.
April very clearly doesn’t want to talk to Daddy and Claudia, especially about Monday. Daddy, however, seems oblivious to this. Daddy’s reaction may explain why Claudia simply accepted for so long that Monday’s life at home was fine—Daddy modeled for her that she should take people at their word and not examine what may be concerning signs. In this case, it’s concerning that Tuesday smells like this—it could indicate possible neglect and/or that the Charles family doesn’t have the resources to stay clean.
Themes
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