Themes
Sexual and Emotional
Development
- In this coming of age novel,
Frankie's sexual development plays a central role in the resolution.
Frankie's sexual innocence is challenged when she encounters the soldier who
attempts to have intercourse with her.
- Her emotional ignorance is
shattered as she realizes that she was "kidding" herself to think that she could
hook up with her brother and his wife.
Surface Impression and
What Lies Beneath
- Frankie's two name changes; she
changes her name to F. Jasmine because her brother, Jarvis, and his fiancée,
Janice, both have names that start with Ja, so Frankie changed her name to fit
in. At the end she changes it to Frances in order to show everyone that
she was maturing.
- For example, when Frankie responds
with ignorance to her exposures to sex, we know that she is unconsciously
aware of what has happened, though she won't allow herself to recognize
this.
The Division Between People
- "This was the summer when for a long time I had
not been a member." This signals to the reader that Frankie's attempt to
find unity with other people, which serves as the main conflict of the
novel.
- As Frankie attempts to grow up and seek
membership into the adult world, she discovers that certain life rules
encumber her. The most important rule has to do with the fact that
married couples only include two people, shutting Frankie out of her dream of
becoming a threesome with Janice and Jarvis.
- Berenice also helps Frankie to understand with
greater empathy what a struggle it is for minorities to deal with the division
between the races.
