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Part 1, Chapter 7: Brooklyn
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in God Help the Child, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Inherited Trauma
Racism and Colorism
Child Abuse and Healing
Arrested Development and Unconditional Love
Summary
Analysis
At her apartment, Bride thinks back on her relationship with Booker. She thought she knew him. She knew he had a duffel bag full of books and degrees from some college, but she never asked more about it. She didn’t know what he did with his time while she was at work. In the mail, she finds an envelope addressed to Booker and opens it. Someone named Salvatore Ponti has sent Booker an invoice for $68, and the payment is overdue. She was wrong to have trusted Booker, Bride thinks. She told him everything about herself, and then he just left. Brooklyn calls and asks Bride what she thought of the launch party the night before. Bride tells her that she has to leave and go on vacation. When Brooklyn hangs up, Bride decides to try and find Mr. Ponti.
Bride stresses again that, during her relationship with Booker, she told him everything about herself, but she doesn’t acknowledge that she didn’t tell him the story about testifying against Sofia. Bride’s decision to withhold this information—and her unwillingness to admit that she withheld it—shows how deep her shame goes and the extent to which she still must learn to accept and forgive herself in the face of past faults and mistakes. Notably, while Bride says she told Booker everything about herself, she doesn’t know very much about him, showing that Booker was also careful about the information he shared with Bride and that the relationship might not have been on even footing.
Themes
