3.) What is the theme of the novel? What point is the author trying to make? What do you think the author wants you to remember after reading this novel? The theme of the novel is the awkwardness of adolescence, especially the uncomfortable, in-between state of becoming. Frankie feels alone, and doesn't know what she will become. When she hears about her brother's upcoming wedding she gets the idea of becoming a part o ...view middle of the document...
She likes Berenice's idea that the world be peaceful, and that there be no wars, but she also can't give up the appeal of war heroes, so she creates an island where people who want war can go, so that can be heroes. She also imagines a world where girls can change to boys and back, and boys can do the same. She can't even decide whether to name her cat Charles or Charlina, and she calls it a Persian even though it's a short-haired cat. Like her life, her imaginary world is a world of in-betweenness.Frankie shows how she matures by going from a fabricated sense of belonging, to a feeling of true belonging. She grows from a childish "Frankie," to a confused "F. Jasmine," and eventually to a matured Frances. When F. Jasmine questions Berenice about why it is illegal to change your name without the court's consent, she responds, "You have a name and one thing after another happens to you, and you behave in various ways and do various things, so that soon the name begins to have a meaning." No matter how we change on the outside, it's only when our feelings on the inside change that we truly grow.
