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Chapter 15
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Spectacular Things, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sacrifice and Love
Dreams, Ambition, and Meaning
Love and Loss
Competition vs. Teamwork
Community
Summary
Analysis
In addition to her work at the dental office, Liz begins working six nights per week at the Italian restaurant, Primo Bistro, in nearby Portland. Whenever Liz comes home from her shift, she wakes Mia, who often falls asleep on the couch, and then Liz talks about her day. She lets Mia keep the one- and five-dollar bills that she (Liz) gets for tips. One night, Mia asks Liz if Cricket could play for the U.S. National Team one day. Liz says that if Cricket wants to, it could be possible.
It is telling that Liz shares some of the tip money she makes as a waitress with Mia. By sharing that money, Liz seems to implicitly acknowledge that, by picking up the slack around the house while Liz is working, Mia is performing meaningful labor and should be compensated for that work. However, Mia is a teenager, and the novel implicitly asks if Liz is asking for too much by asking Mia to take on that labor.
Themes
