Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Piecing Me Together, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Intersectionality, Identity, and Discrimination
The Power of Language
Mentorship, Opportunity, and Dignity
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Last Friday, Maxine was supposed to take Jade out for dinner but she canceled at the last minute. Jade suspects it was about Jon. This morning, Maxine is going to try to make it up to Jade by taking her out for her birthday. Jade greets Mom and tells her that says she’s dressed up because Maxine is taking her out to “do brunch” for her birthday. Mom is incredulous that Jade is speaking like this—she says that Jade has chores and that Maxine should’ve asked her first. She tells Jade she can’t go. Maxine rings the doorbell and Mom answers it. She doesn’t let Maxine in and she declares that Jade isn’t leaving the house—Jade is a child with a mother. Maxine apologizes and she says she knows Mom isn’t home much. Mom replies that when she’s not home, she’s working. Jade is mortified.
To Mom, Jade saying that they’re going to “do brunch” sounds rather upscale, which makes it seem as though Maxine is corrupting Jade and turning her into someone Mom doesn’t recognize. In this instance, then, language is threatening. Jade is mortified in part because Maxine implies that she doesn’t expect Mom to be involved in Jade’s life if she’s not home. Again, it’s understandable that this would feel threatening to Mom, since she is as involved as she can be and she is undeniably caring. Mom and Maxine are both coming up against their assumptions about each other, which makes it even harder to trust the other and to help Jade succeed.
Themes
Maxine apologizes again and Mom lets her in, saying that Maxine can stay for a while if she wants. Mom grouses about Jade’s art supplies everywhere and then she locks herself in her room. Maxine apologizes to Jade and she says that Mom is right: in the future, she’ll check their plans with Mom first. Jade invites Maxine to her room to see her latest collage: it’s about York and Lewis and Clark. Maxine is impressed. She stays for an hour and they talk about movies and music. Jade is surprised that they have a lot in common, but Maxine assures Jade that she knows black culture even if she went to St. Francis. Then, she asks Mom’s permission to take Jade to a bookstore to buy her art books. Mom agrees but she reminds Maxine that Jade is a scholar too.
When Jade is surprised that she and Maxine have so much in common, it again shows that Jade is dealing with her own preconceptions about Maxine—and that those preconceptions are probably keeping her from truly connecting with her mentor. Though Jade doesn’t seem bothered by Mom’s insistence that she’s a scholar first and an artist second, Maxine can step in here and help support a part of Jade’s identity that Mom doesn’t support as much. Through this mentoring experience, Jade can receive support in more areas of her life, thereby giving her more options.
Themes
