57 pages • 1-hour read
P.S. Be Eleven
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Symbols & Motifs
The Jackson Five
Historically, the Jackson Five was a band composed of five brothers, including lead singer Michael Jackson, who later went on to solo fame during the late 1970s. For Delphine and her sisters, the Jackson Five represents their engagement with cultural forces beyond the family. For Delphine, the Jackson Five also represents idealized, romantic love. Her crush on the tall Jackson brother is a fantasy love that she recognizes for what it is in the last chapter of the novel.
Big Ma and Pa’s ridicule and disapproval of the Jackson Five stem from their sense that the boys in the band represent disorder. They perceive that the Jacksons are embodying roles that should be reserved for adults. The Gaither sisters’ enthusiasm for young entertainers that look like them shows that the authority figures’ efforts to shape values within the family can be undercut by powerful external forces like popular culture. As a band of young, Black children, the Jackson Five also represent a Black youth culture that was becoming more prominent in the late 1960s as a result of the gains of the civil rights movement and Black Power movement. Delphine’s indignation over the fact that there is only one picture of the Jacksons—and that it is located on the back of the teen magazines—shows her awareness of how popular culture can reinforce the inequality between children and adults and between people of different races in the United States.
The Mummy Jar
The mummy jar that Vonetta constructs symbolizes the shift in relationships within the Gaither family. Williams-Garcia introduces the jar as one of Vonetta’s first acts of responsibility when Delphine finally gets out of her way. Rather than being glad of Vonetta’s willingness to assume this responsibility, Delphine is hurt by Vonetta’s initiative. Vonetta’s independent creation of the jar and ledger leads Delphine to question her role as a responsible big sister. When the younger girls refuse to let Delphine borrow money from the jar, the interaction reflects their belief that Delphine is now to be grouped with older authority figures rather than with the younger children in the family.
When Darnell steals the contents of the mummy jar, that act shows how negatively his post-war struggles and his substance use have affected his relationship with the family. After the theft, the empty jar symbolizes Pa’s broken trust with his daughters and the arbitrariness of adult authority. Pa’s refusal to replace the stolen money incites Delphine to stand up to him and use what authority she has on behalf of her sisters.
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart is a 1958 novel by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. It is the story of how European colonialism and Christianity overtake and destroy African culture in Igboland, modern-day Nigeria. The novel symbolizes the sometimes-unrecognized impact of oppression on Black people in America and worldwide.
When Mr. Mwile tells Delphine that he reads the book repeatedly, Delphine recognizes that the book has the same significance for Mwile that the Bible has for Big Ma. The notion that books other than the Bible can be central to a person’s identity underscores the power of language that Delphine saw during her summer in Oakland. For her, the book symbolizes her longing to be an adult and gain the approval of adults like Mr. Mwile. When Cecile gifts the book to Delphine for Christmas, the book becomes a symbol of Cecile’s acceptance that Delphine is growing up.
The Royal Blue Coat
The blue coat that Marva gifts to Delphine near the end of the novel is also a symbol of Delphine growing up. The intensity of the color of the coat indicates its aura of sophistication, especially when Pa calls it “too grown” and asks that Delphine instead get a coat in “Popsicle colors” (243), the pastel colors that Pa associates with childhood. The coat is also a sign of Marva’s integration into the Gaither family. Giving her stepdaughter the coat is a kind gesture that wins Marva Delphine’s goodwill, which has been absent for much of the novel.
Fairytales and Fantasies
Williams-Garcia uses fairytales and fantasies as a motif to develop The Importance of Family Relationships and The Transition From Childhood to Adolescence. Fern, the youngest Gaither sister, demands stories from Darnell after his return home from Vietnam, but his inability to retell them reflects his changed relationship with his nieces as a result of his experiences in Vietnam.
The uses to which the Gaither sisters put fairytales and stories indicate their sophisticated understanding of adult dynamics. For example, Vonetta and Fern’s conception of Delphine as the conquered giant from “Jack and the Beanstalk” shows that they have already learned lessons about how to navigate the greater power of family authority figures. The sense of hurt that Delphine feels as the girls sing the song about the giant shows that she also accepts this interpretation of the story. Being the giant underscores Delphine’s understanding of herself as an oppressor to her sisters.
Fantasies are also important in the novel, and they are usually associated with love, familial or otherwise. The central fantasy of the Gaither girls is that they will have a family with a physically present mother. When Vonetta and Fern learn that Marva and Pa are marrying, they play out a fantasy wedding in which they are flower girls. Delphine’s jealousy of Marva leads her to destroy that vision of love by declaring that her father and Marva are too old for a “fairy-tale” wedding (53), and Delphine turns out to be right.
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