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Chapter 4
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Friends, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship
The Value of Art
Loss and Grief
Substance Abuse
Summary
Analysis
In the present, as Louisa hits the ground and goes unconscious, she thinks she hears Fish’s voice. She tells Fish that she was supposed to survive because Fish was always better at living alone. When Louisa awakes, she hears the homeless man pointing the auction guard in the wrong direction. When the guard is gone, Louisa gets up and apologizes in English to the homeless man. She accidentally stumbles onto the man and notices that he doesn’t seem to like it when people touch him.
The way Fish’s presence stays with Louisa even after Fish’s death hints at how Louisa is still working through her grief. Although Louisa has spent so much time trying to avoid having people touch her, in this passage, she bumps into the homeless man by chance, showing how it isn’t possible to completely avoid other people. Chance encounters with others are bound to happen.
Active
Themes
The homeless man sees Louisa’s backpack, and she tells him that she didn’t actually steal anything from the auction or vandalize any paintings. The man holds out his hand, and Louisa sees that her passport fell out of her backpack. He says that Louisa is a nice name and congratulates wishes her happy birthday, although her birthday is actually tomorrow. Louisa tells him a bit about her life, including the foster home she ran away from and why she is so obsessed with the painting at the auction, the same painting on her postcard. The postcard makes the homeless man cry, so Louisa lets him keep it.
Louisa judged the man at first because he looked homeless, but she realizes after she spends more time with him that he is considerate and observant. She thought that he was a frightening person, but when she sees him cry at the postcard, she realizes that he is actually sensitive at heart. Meanwhile, Louisa’s decision to give the postcard to the man, even though it’s her prized possession, shows her own generosity and kindness.
Active
Themes
The homeless man is shaking. He admits to Louisa that he is sick and dying. Louisa confides in him about Fish. As Louisa is about to leave, the homeless man invites her to paint some graffiti nearby. She uses up her spray cans painting things like hearts and fish and cockroaches. Eventually, the homeless man takes one of her cans and paints for himself. When he paints, she is shocked to see him that he has painted skulls.
