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Chapter 38
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Summer I Turned Pretty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Time and Change
Coming of Age and Selfishness
Puberty, Body Image, and Anxiety
Family, Romance, and Rules
Summary
Analysis
Belly is shocked and a bit offended when Conrad invites Nicole to the beach house. They sit across the pool from Belly, and Belly thinks that compared to her, Nicole looks so chic. Belly finally calls Cam to come over, and when he arrives, they argue over what movie to watch. Conrad and Nicole come inside and ask to join them, which results in a complex argument over whether to watch Reservoir Dogs or Titanic. Belly insists that Titanic is silly and that she only wants to watch it for its comedic value—privately, she loves it still. Eventually, they decide on Titanic. Halfway through, though, Conrad and Nicole go upstairs. Belly launches into a tirade about how gross they are and how fake and vacuous Nicole is. Cam is taken aback.
Readers—and Cam—can see that Belly’s jealousy of Nicole is what motivates her to invite Cam over and speak the way she does about Nicole. Belly is trying to present herself as mature, sensible, and only interested in good movies—but her behaviors and her inner monologue makes it clear that she isn’t yet able to strike this balance. What bothers Belly about Nicole in this passage is that Conrad has brought her to the beach house, which Belly seems to see as a violation of her safe space. Nicole’s presence suggests things are changing—and Belly is not ready to accept that as fact.
Themes
Near the end of the movie, Conrad and Nicole come back downstairs, so Belly snuggles closer to Cam. Conrad and Nicole leave—and Cam asks if Belly just asked him to come over to try to make Conrad jealous. Belly denies it and insists she’s over Conrad, but Cam isn’t convinced. Truthfully, though Belly would never admit it, she feels like she’ll never be able to let go of Conrad. Cam asks if Belly wants to keep talking when summer is over, but Belly is too slow to answer. He leaves.
