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 tells the reader that sometimes, she just wants to be comfortable in her skin. She wants to laugh without being told she’s rowdy and to wear her hair big without attracting special attention. She wants to talk how she wants to without people judging her. At school, Jade makes sure that she doesn’t look or act “too black.” This is why she doesn’t always want to hang out with Sam after school, as it just reminds Jade of how black she is.
What Jade wants is to not have all the things that mark her as black stand out as abnormal. At the overwhelmingly white St. Francis, almost everything Jade says and does marks her as different—and having to constantly remember that she must act less black in order to fit in is exhausting.
Themes
The weekend before spring break, Jade goes over and hangs out with Sam before she leaves for Costa Rica. In the living room, Mr. Franklin asks Jade what she thinks about the Natasha Ramsey incident. Believing that white people can handle black people’s sadness better than their anger, Jade says she’s sad. Mr. Franklin says it’s a shame—Natasha shouldn’t have been beaten for just being a teenager, and all cops should be trained on race relations. Jade’s tension dissolves, and Mr. Franklin says he doesn’t know what it’s going to take for the U.S. to live up to its promise. Sam returns with her suitcase and she leads Jade into her room.
Jade’s choice to express her sadness rather than her anger makes sense, especially given the stereotypes surrounding “angry black women.” Mr. Franklin’s response, however, suggests that he could possibly handle Jade’s anger and see it as a normal part of being human, not something that makes Jade fundamentally different. Even if Mr. Franklin may struggle to say the right things sometimes, he still recognizes that no teen, no matter their skin color, deserves to be beaten.
Themes
Sam laments that she doesn’t have any cute summer clothes as Jade tries to be mature and not take her disappointment out on Sam. She asks Sam to tell her about the trip. Sam says they’ll volunteer at a school, but she admits that they will get to zip line and hike. She tries to make it sound boring, which Jade appreciates. Sam asks Jade what she’ll do with her break, and Jade says simply that she’s not going to Costa Rica. She insists she’s not mad about staying home, and Sam reminds Jade that she gets to do fun things all the time, citing the symphony. Jade says that it’s unfair that people who look like Sam get to go to Costa Rica, while people who look like Jade get signed up for programs that take them downtown.
Jade tries to get at the idea that because Sam is white, people don’t see her as someone who needs to be in a program like Woman to Woman. Put another way, Sam’s poverty doesn’t define her, while Jade lives in a world where people link blackness and poverty all the time. Because people focus on Jade’s poverty, they see her as someone who needs programs like Woman to Woman which, in theory, bring her up to the level of her white peers and level the playing field—but they never let Jade achieve anything meaningful or give back.
Themes
Jade wants to end the conversation but she thinks of Maxine telling her to not give up and to try to help Sam understand. Jade says that the study abroad program isn’t about a contaminated river because people like Sam own the river. At this, Sam starts to cry and she accuses Jade of bragging about the things she does with Maxine. She says she wants to be able to share this with Jade and she can’t change that Jade isn’t going.
When Jade talks about “people like Sam,” she’s talking about white people at large—she’s essentially saying that people don’t look at Sam and see only her poverty. Though Jade may be correct, saying this also makes Sam feel as though Jade isn’t being a good friend either—Jade seems not to understand how hard Sam has to work to achieve things, even if she is white.
Themes
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Jade starts to cry too and she tells Sam that she just doesn’t want her to downplay racist incidents—she says that Sam doesn’t know what it’s like to be nominated for programs that want to fix her. Jade sobs that she wants to be normal and have teachers see her as someone who can give, not just as someone in need of help. She asks Sam to think about why she doesn’t get the same opportunities Jade gets. Jade gets up to leave, thinking that although Maxine might say friends are worth fighting for, sometimes it’s easier to walk away.
Saying all of this is takes a lot of courage, and thus it exemplifies just how far Jade has come over the course of the novel. It’s difficult and painful to do it, but it gives Sam the information she needs to figure out how to do better—something she’ll have to do if she and Jade are going to stay friends. When Jade thinks of Maxine’s advice and then discards it, it also points to her newfound confidence. Now, she knows she’s not being ungrateful by deciding Maxine’s advice doesn’t work for her.
Themes
