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
Jade finishes her first collage about York, Lewis, and Clark. She tells Mom that she’s interested in the fact that a black man found the Pacific Northwest, but all she wants to do is leave. That night, Jade makes a collage about her own journey to escape. It makes her feel like a traitor, since Maxine is kind of right: Jade is like “those girls.” She eats fast food, uses food stamps, and knows to duck from gunshots. Jade wants boys to notice her—but the boys at St. Francis don’t because she doesn’t look like their mothers, and the boys at home only see Jade as a tutor and friend. However, Jade knows she wants more. She wants to go to college and grad school. Jade thinks that “those girls” aren’t her opposite. They’re on different paths, but there’s a place where they connect.
The place where Jade connects with “those girls” is in North Portland, where she lives. They all come from the same place, and in broad strokes, they all want the same things—but Jade just has more opportunities to be successful than the other young women in her neighborhood. This is another instance in which the connection between Jade and her home city shines through, as Jade contains multitudes and layers just like Portland does—and just as she wants to leave Portland, there are parts of her identity that Jade also wants to leave behind.
Themes
