Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Skin I’m In, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bullying and Insecurity
Self-Esteem, Support, and Friendship
Writing and Self-Expression
The Importance of Role Models
Summary
Analysis
On Saturday, Maleeka’s mom eases Maleeka’s restrictions at home, and Maleeka’s friend Sweets comes over to her house. Maleeka and Sweets have been best friends since kindergarten, but Sweets goes to the school for high-achieving students across town. Maleeka had the grades to go to that school as well, but when she went to the interview, she froze. The school was big and clean, and most of the girls were white and had long, straight hair. Sweets said that it’s not about a person’s race, it’s about “how you feel about who you are that counts” to get into the school. Now that Sweets is at the new school, she studies most of the time.
Maleeka’s experience applying to the other school demonstrates the severe impact that bullying can have on children. Because Maleeka has been told over and over again that her skin is too dark and that she’s too poor, she doesn’t feel like she belongs at a fancier school populated mostly with white children, despite the fact that her grades indicate she does belong there. Sweets’s statement, then, emphasizes the importance of self-esteem.
Themes
When Sweets comes over, she talks to a boy named Larry on the phone. Meanwhile, Maleeka looks in a plastic mirror that her dad gave her when she was little. She has her dad’s eyes and her mom’s lips. She also has the same skin color as her dad, which she didn’t used to mind until kids started teasing her about it. Out of the blue, she gets an idea to cut her hair so that people might start to see her differently. When Sweets hangs up, Maleeka tells her about the plan. Sweets says that her cousin Ronnie opened a hair salon recently, and that Ronnie will give Maleeka a haircut if Maleeka works in the shop for three Saturdays.
Maleeka didn’t mind her dark skin until kids started to tease her about it, which again emphasizes the fact that bullying and insecurity can be a vicious cycle. The more people bully Maleeka for her skin, the more insecure she feels about it, and the more the bullying hurts. The mirror that her father gave her, however, symbolizes Maleeka’s acceptance of herself. As her dad told her, Maleeka needs to look at herself through her own eyes, rather than caring about how other people see her.
Themes
After Maleeka convinces her mom to let her get her hair cut, she goes to Ronnie’s salon. As Ronnie cuts Maleeka’s hair, the women in the salon tell Maleeka that to wear a haircut like hers, she needs attitude. They give her clip-on earrings and lip gloss, and they teach her how to strut. When Ronnie is finished, Maleeka likes what she sees. The other women tell Maleeka how good she looks, and she gets up and starts walking around the salon, snapping her fingers and feeling good. She is confident, and Sweets and the other women in the salon encourage her. Maleeka feels like she’s a runway model.
Getting a new haircut is a way for Maleeka to boost her self-esteem. Doing so changes how she sees herself—and hopefully this will change how others see her as well. The other women’s reactions also demonstrate how valuable supportive friends and role models are to a person’s self-esteem. Because the women in the salon give her accessories, compliment her, and teach her how to walk with confidence, Maleeka feels better about herself than she has thus far in the novel.
Themes
