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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Play It As It Lays, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Meaninglessness
Gender Inequality and Identity
Loss and Recovery
Superficiality
Summary
Analysis
Later, when they’re in the car heading home from BZ’s, Carter criticizes Maria for asking Helene how much BZ’s mother, Carlotta, pays them to stay married. Maria grumbles about being “sick of everybody’s sick arrangements” before telling Carter she’s pregnant. When Carter asks Maria who the father is, she replies, “you know.” Carter stares out at the highway in silence. Maria wants to tell Carter she’s sorry but can’t find the right words.
Carter is annoyed that Maria spoke indiscreetly about BZ and Helene’s sham marriage. He seems to resent his inability to control Maria to the extent he was able to control her in his films. Maria’s reply of “you know” reveals that Carter knows who the father of her baby is, and the fact that Maria wants to apologize implies that it isn’t Carter. The pervasive silence in this scene demonstrates Carter and Maria’s inability to communicate with each other about serious topics.
Themes
Finally, Carter says that while he might know, “Felicia doesn’t.” Maria realizes that things are going to go very badly. She backtracks and restates that she doesn’t know for sure who the father is. Still, she’s certain that she’s pregnant because she took two tests the doctor’s office. Carter is upset when Maria tells him she went to a random doctor for the tests.
Carter’s comment about Felicia (Les Goodwin’s wife) confirms that both Carter and Maria suspect that Les is the baby’s father. Carter brings up Felicia to assert dominance over Maria: he’s implicitly threatening to tell Felicia about the affair, which would likely destroy whatever relationship Maria has with Les. Carter is upset about Maria going to a random doctor because he fears his reputation will be tarnished if an untrusted doctor spreads rumors about Carter Lang’s wife having another man’s baby.
Themes
Maria has a random thought about attending a party where there had been Japanese food and women with handmade earrings, but she can’t remember where it was. She folds her scarf over her lap and whispers that she went to the doctor because he was near Saks, where she’d been getting her hair done.
Themes
