46 pages • 1 hour read
Jessica Anya BlauMary Jane
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2021A 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
Cooking
Because Mrs. Cone is such an inept homemaker, it stands to reason that cooking would be a prominent motif in the novel. Meal preparation becomes Mary Jane’s domain, and it relates to the theme of Choosing an Identity. In the Dillard household, cooking is a fraught issue. Mrs. Dillard never allows her daughter to prepare a meal unsupervised. Mary Jane’s role is to assist but never to take charge. Denying the ability of a teenager to cook dinner is a covert way of denying Mary Jane other forms of self-determination. Mrs. Dillard makes the rules in life and the kitchen, and Mary Jane is expected to obey. Presumably, this level of oversight will cease once Mary Jane has been thoroughly indoctrinated in the proper way of doing things.
By lying to her mother and cooking solo for the Cones, Mary Jane is breaking all the rules. However, taking care of the Cones and their guests gives her a sense of confidence, especially when they are so appreciative of her efforts. The girl begins to think of herself as responsible and capable of acting on her own. The simple act of baking a pot roast suggests that she might be trusted to use her best judgment in other matters too. For much of the novel, Mrs. Dillard refers to Mary Jane as a “child” (279). Cooking meals proves to both mother and daughter that Mary Jane has grown up.
Singing
With a rock musician in residence, the Cone house would naturally become a musical place. However, the motif of singing is ubiquitous and relates to the theme of Found Family. Except for Mr. Dillard, everybody in the novel sings. The strait-laced Mrs. Dillard plays guitar and sings for her Sunday school class. Mary Jane starts out in the same proper vein but quickly expands her repertoire.
After being exposed to Sheba and Jimmy, she learns to appreciate rock music and every other genre. During their frequent car trips and dinner trips, the characters break into spontaneous singing. They often create new songs or new lyrics to old songs. Izzy and Jimmy are the most adept at this art. However, even the low-key Mary Jane teaches the others a song she learned from her Camp Fire Girls outings.
Just as the frequent utterance of “I love you” and group hugs help to solidify the bond among the people at the Cone house, their songfests accomplish the same goal. Even after Mary Jane is separated from her found family, Sheba and Jimmy go to her church on Sundays to cheer on her vocal performances. The most obvious connection between singing and found family is Jimmy’s tribute to Mary Jane in the song he writes for her. Even after they’ve gone their separate ways, he sends her a cassette recording to remind her that he still thinks of her as family.
Fame
The arrival of Sheba and Jimmy in a mundane suburban environment allows the book to explore the concept of fame as a symbol related to Journeys of Self-Discovery. Fame is a double-edged sword. While it seems to offer the promise of love and adoration, it can also separate people from self-awareness. As has been previously stated, Jimmy hates the fame attached to his success as a musician. He uses heroin and sex as distractions from the roar of the crowd. Twice in the novel, he lapses into old addictions because these can succeed in temporarily keeping his demons at bay. Unfortunately, dependence on these crutches keeps Jimmy from understanding that he needs solitude and privacy to hear himself think.
Conversely, Sheba courts attention because this sort of validation helps her silence the inner voice of her hypercritical mother. The time she is forced to spend in seclusion to help Jimmy is especially hard on her. However, the hiatus finally allows her to understand her addiction to fame. She must learn to deal with the negative messages from her past without the distraction of other people’s approval. Bonnie is just as fascinated with fame as Sheba, but she hasn’t achieved it. She would be willing to experience it vicariously by marrying a famous rock star, and the glamorous couple living under her roof forces her to consider her wants and needs. Being the wife of a suburban psychiatrist will never afford Bonnie the fame she craves.
