Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in NW, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class Identity and Social Mobility
Geography and Human Connection
Sex and Relationships
Altruism
Summary
Analysis
Leah still hasn’t told Michel about her pregnancy test, and so he talks about having an exam at a pregnancy clinic, since she just turned 35. As they’re at a sweetshop, Leah notices a woman buying cigarettes and realizes that it’s Shar. Each of the women tries to avoid the other, but they can’t. When Michel sees Shar, he calls her a thief, and she runs away.
The fact that Leah hasn’t told Michel about something as big as a pregnancy (but she has told Shar) hints at problems with trust in their marriage. This chance encounter with Shar emphasizes how urban life forces people together and how even people in different social classes like Shar and Leah (who isn’t wealthy but has far more economic stability) must share the same spaces.
Themes
