Family Theme Analysis

The memoir explores the complexity of familial bonds and the importance of family to a person’s experiences and identity. Maya and Bailey’s relationship is in many ways at the center of the book. Young Marguerite loves her brother so dearly and trusts him so implicitly that she confides in him first about her attack. The children often have to cope with feelings of abandonment since they were sent away by their parents to live with their grandmother at a young age, and are sent away again after Marguerite’s attack. Marguerite in particular—who bears no physical resemblance to her mother or father—wonders if her parents are in fact related to her. When Mr. Freeman assaults Marguerite for the first time, she is uncomfortable and confused but so desiring of parental affection that she interprets his actions as tenderness, and wonders if Mr. Freeman is her real father. Marguerite also learns to form familial bonds outside of her own biological family. Mrs. Flowers’ mentorship of Marguerite is another huge source of comfort and support.

The picture of family ties described by this memoir is a complicated one: family can be a source of rejection, confusion and pain, but is also an indispensable source of love and support.