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Chapter 26
Themes
and Colors
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
Maria thinks about Silver Wells. She wishes she could see her mother and recalls the last day they spent together. It had been a Sunday, and Maria had flown in from New York. Benny Austin had joined them for Sunday supper. When Benny and Maria were alone at the table, he explained that Maria’s mother had been somewhat depressed lately, and that Maria’s father didn’t want to talk about it.
The trauma of the abortion motivates Maria to take comfort in memories. Maria criticizes her Hollywood social circle for its superficiality, but Maria’s father’s reluctance to talk about her mother’s depression suggests that an aversion to honesty and emotional vulnerability is a more universal problem.
Active
Themes
Maria watched her mother once she returned to the table but found nothing to be out of the ordinary. Her father mentioned buying a few rights of zinc. Benny complimented Maria’s mother’s spare-ribs and said she should go into business. Maria’s mother, Francine, joked about her and Maria opening a hash house. When Francine expressed concern over Maria being too thin, Maria’ father (Harry) stood up, threw his napkin down on the table, and told his wife that Maria “can’t win if she’s not at the table,” which she “wouldn’t understand.” When her plane took off later that night, Maria watched her mother, father, and Benny Austin “waving at the wrong window” for as long as she could.
