The Leavers

by

Lisa Ko

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The Leavers: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Jumping back in time, Ko narrates an excursion Polly and Deming take when Deming is six years old. Having just returned to America after spending five years in China with his grandfather, Deming finds his mother unfamiliar and is entranced by the many sights and sounds of New York City. Each noise creates a stream of color in his mind, and he revels in what it’s like to move through this hectic soundscape. When they have free time, he and his mother choose a subway line to ride, taking a train to Queens one day and spotting a mother and son who they decide are their lookalikes. When Deming runs up to them, they simply walk away. Turning to his real mother, he asks, “Are you going to leave me again?” “Never,” she replies. “I promise I’ll never leave you.”
Unlike Deming, readers know that Polly actually will leave him. However, it’s not yet clear why she eventually disappears, so her promise to “never leave” Deming is noteworthy, since this sentiment suggests that perhaps her departure was involuntary. At the same time, though, Ko has already established that Polly is a “restless” person, thereby inviting readers to wonder if she leaves in order to live an independent life unencumbered by the responsibilities of parenthood.
Themes
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Parenthood, Support, and Expectations Theme Icon
Resuming the story of what happens when Polly initially disappears, Ko explains that Deming still doesn’t know what happened to his mother even five months after she leaves. It’s July, and he has settled into a boring—if uneasy—life, waiting for Polly to come back and spending time in the stagnant city heat with Michael. Vivian and Leon do their best to care for him, but neither can replace his mother. Leon, for his part, looks worse and worse by the day, tired from his work at the slaughterhouse and overwhelmed by his new caretaking responsibilities. One night, Deming asks him if they can go to Florida to look for Polly, but he assures him that his mother isn’t in “danger.”
It’s unclear how much Leon and Vivian know about Polly’s whereabouts. Although they appear unable to tell Deming what happened to her, they also seem confident about certain details, like that she’s not in harm’s way. This, however, might just be an effort to soothe Deming, though Leon’s vague answers are not only unconvincing, but somewhat unsettling because of their mysterious nature. Once again, then, readers see that Deming’s caretakers aren’t paying close attention to his emotional state—it seems that if they were, they would make an effort to speak more openly to him about the situation.
Themes
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Angry that nobody will tell him what happened to Polly, Deming decides one night to go to Florida himself. Ever a loyal companion, Michael agrees to accompany him, and together they sneak out of the apartment. When they get to the train station, though, neither of them have MetroCards or money, and Deming calls off the plan, dejectedly saying, “Let’s go home.” That night, he watches Leon sleep and thinks about how badly he “need[s]” him. Shortly thereafter, Leon gets injured at work and is unable to go to his shifts. And though the landlord gives him and Vivian more time to come up with rent, Ko notes that “the loan shark’s men [are] less understanding.”
When Deming thinks about how much he “need[s]” Leon, he recognizes the precarious circumstances his mother has put him in. Without his primary caretaker, he realizes that he’s dependent upon a man he who isn’t even his father. Of course, he’s close with Leon, but Leon technically has no legal obligation to look after him. On another note, Ko’s reference to “the loan sharks” is the first time she mentions anything of the sort, ultimately heightening the mystery and suspense swirling in the aftermath of Polly’s disappearance.
Themes
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Ko describes Polly’s initial disappearance, explaining that Vivian receives a call from her co-worker Didi, who’s “screaming about the nail salon,” saying that “the boss [is] involved in something shady.” When Leon calls the restaurant in Florida where Polly planned to work, they tell him she never came. Trying to track her down, Didi calls the police and the immigration authorities, but they claim to have “no record of her.” This leads Deming to believe that she’s not in danger, since he thinks she simply “took off on her own.”
Although it might seem comforting to know that Polly isn’t in danger, the idea that she “took off on her own” is surely quite devastating to Deming, since it implies that she willingly abandoned him to pursue a better life. As such, he’s left feeling unwanted, as if he’s not good enough for his mother’s love.
Themes
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Parenthood, Support, and Expectations Theme Icon
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One night, Leon doesn’t come home until long after midnight. “You smell like a bar,” Vivian says to her him. “Must be nice to stay out all night doing whatever you want. Wish I could do that.” Only ten days later, Leon leaves for good in dead of night. Vivian tells Michael and Deming that he has taken a job in China. She also says he wanted to say goodbye but didn’t because the boys were sleeping, but Deming knows this is a lie. “He hadn’t said goodbye because he knew he shouldn’t have left,” Ko writes.
Not only does Deming’s mother abandon him, but now Leon does too. Deming sees this as something to be ashamed of, thinking that Leon must know he’s done something wrong. Once again, then, Deming is put in a position in which he feels unwanted, and though he knows the adults in his life have let him down, this surely doesn’t help him feel better about being abandoned.
Themes
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Parenthood, Support, and Expectations Theme Icon
Three weeks after Leon leaves, Vivian tells Deming she wants to take him shopping. Michael is sad to be left behind, but Vivian claims she wants to spend one-on-one time with Deming. On the bus, she turns to him and says, “Face it. Your mother isn’t coming back, and you need a good family. I can’t provide for both you and Michael right now. I’m sorry, Deming.” Promising that he can live with Leon when he returns from China, she says they’ll see each other again soon. She then takes him into a building and a clerk brings him into an isolated room before going to talk to Vivian. When the clerk returns, she takes him to a Chinese family in Brooklyn, where he stays for several days before a white couple named Peter and Kay Wilkinson come and take him back to the suburban town of Ridgeborough, New York.
Yet again, Deming is unable to depend upon the adults in his life. This time, at least, Vivian tells him why she’s abandoning him, trying to explain that she simply can’t afford to support him. This makes sense, since she has her own child to provide for, but Vivian’s sound logic likely makes no difference to Deming, who once more has to face the fact that none of his caretakers are willing or able to give him what he needs.
Themes
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