107 pages • 3 hours read
Adrian Nicole LeBlancRandom Family
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Children/Babies
Throughout the narrative, children and babies symbolize potential and hope.
Due partially to the fact that adolescents are thrust into adulthood by the age of twelve or thirteen, babies and children take on even more significance, as the tender years of childhood, and the hope for the surpassing of the desperate circumstances that pervade adult life, shine with an intensity that, for the sake of survival, must pose a shining counterpoint to the desperation.
Poverty/Scarcity
Poverty and its accompanying scarcity is a recurring motif throughout the narrative. For LeBlanc, poverty is the premiere factor that shapes and determines the character’s fates. It shapes Jessica’s ambitions to rise above her origins. It necessitates Coco’s numerous interactions with the stateand forms the conditions with which she must grapple every day. It produces violence and the drug trade, as young men act out against social neglect and attempt to access the money and resources that they need in order to both survive and feel alive and recognized.
