48 pages • 1 hour read
Sharon G. FlakeThe Skin I'm In
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1998A 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
Poetry
Poetry is a recurring element in the novel. It appears in the very first chapter, when Miss Saunders quotes a poem when telling Maleeka that her skin is “[l]ike a blue-black sky after it’s rained and rained” (8). Poetry appears again when Maleeka finds her father’s poem for her, describing her as beautiful, brown, and someone he loves dearly. In the following chapter, Maleeka reads from a poetry book in the library, which reminds her of her father. Finally, the final chapter features Caleb’s love poem for Maleeka, where he asks for her to be with him again and compares her to chocolate candy.
Poetry in the novel always connects to the theme of love, either for oneself or for someone else. This is significant, as a major theme in the novel is self-love. Through most of the poems, Maleeka is reminded that her dark skin is beautiful and is appreciated by others. Poetry also highlights Maleeka’s talent as a developing writer. While her Akeelma letters are not poetry, they demonstrate that she is a writer, just as her father was through his poetry. Therefore, poetry also draws a connection between Maleeka and her late father.
Clothes
Clothing is a significant recurring motif in The Skin I’m In. Maleeka’s classmates judge her for wearing the lopsided clothes that her Momma sews for her. Because Momma started sewing to cope with Daddy’s death, Maleeka’s clothes represent grief as well as the poverty that makes home-sewn clothes more feasible than retail. Maleeka’s ill-fitting clothes expose her to teasing, which contrasts with Charlese’s designer outfits that garner her praise. When Maleeka borrows Charlese’s clothes, she feels better. However, wearing Charlese’s clothes also symbolizes how Maleeka must live by Charlese’s rules and under her negative influence.
Miss Saunders also has fancy clothes. She wears “designer shoes” and a “three-hundred-dollar watch” (11). The students can immediately identify Miss Saunders’s wealth. In addition to her facial mark and tall build, Miss Saunders’s wealth is one more way that she stands out in McClenton Middle School. Her clothing reflects her outcast status and the distaste all the other students have for her. Yet, it also represents how she has chosen to live a very different life as a middle school teacher and is willing to sacrifice her glamorous career.
Mirrors
Mirrors symbolically tie into Maleeka’s identity and her vulnerable sense of self. One day, she finds a pink, plastic hand mirror that her Daddy gave her years ago, and as she examines her face in the mirror, she identifies the characteristics that she shares with both of her parents. Through that mirror, Maleeka is reminded of who she is and how her loved ones view her. It is with that confidence and knowledge that she chooses to get her short haircut. However, when she later goes to school and looks in the bathroom mirror, she sees herself differently: “[S]eeing it in the school bathroom mirror is something else” (31). That mirror reflects how her classmates see her, and it leaves her feeling disappointed. However, when she pulls out the pink hand mirror again, she is reminded of who she really is and regains her confidence.
Mirrors also hold metaphorical significance in the novel, symbolizing self-perception. In Chapter 4, Miss Saunders describes the challenge of being able to “look in the mirror and like what you see, even when it doesn’t look like anybody else’s idea of beauty” (16). This is a difficult process for Maleeka, just as Miss Saunders predicts, but she ultimately arrives there. In the final chapter, Maleeka can “look at [her] face in the mirror and smile” (97).
