(Wolff 25)
After this quote, Jeremy obviously becomes really attached and dedicated to his lemon plant. Correspondingly, this really shows that LaVaughn got through to him and he took this very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that this lemon plant becomes a symbol throughout the book. So in this, LaVaughn has taught him patience and determination (like I stated in my last essay). The theme of family also shows up when Jeremy teaches his personality and life tips to LaVaughn. During the middle of the book, Jeremy is simply going along and LaVaughn learns something from him. “Jeremey never walks, always dances, / there’s a bad inside him giving him rythm […]” (Wolff 87) This symbolises that Jeremy kind of dances to his own beat, sort of say. LaVaughn notices that Jeremy doesn’t really care about what other people think, and he just does what he wants. She learns from him that she also shouldn’t really care about what other people think about her and she should just do what makes her happy… Just like what Jeremy does. Just a couple pages before this, LaVaughn learned a similar lesson when Jeremy was in the bottom of a shopping cart. “He’s happy under there, he’s a lion at the zoo.” (Wolff 84) Jeremy has fun wherever he goes, and LaVaughn takes notice of this. She realizes that you can have fun in any situation. Whether he is at his house, or in public, Jeremy has fun. Basically, LaVaughn learns that she too can have a good attitude in any situation, like Jeremy. …show more content…
In addition, she loves Jeremy so she neglected her own needs to take care of his. Also, she knows that Jeremy’s will probably not be taken care of if she doesn’t take care of them, so she does so. This theme also shows up in part two. “Jeremy’s shoes cost what Jolly would pay me for six hours of sitting. / [...] … I put the money up on the counter…” (Wolff 79) This shows that LaVaughn will really do anything for Jeremy. In this situation, LaVaughn payed for Jeremy’s shoes with her own money, six hours of babysitting worth of money. Furthermore, this really shows the relationship between Jeremy and LaVaughn. LaVaughn forgot about herself, to do Mr. Jeremy a nice favor because she actually loves and cares about him. I mean, think about it, this quote really represents family. And finally, this message also uncovers itself in the final pages of the book. “ I show Jeremy where he gets to sleep on the sofa…” 195 This really shows how their relationship just genuinely illustrates family. Because even though Jeremy is kind of in some rough times, there is always a backbone for him… That backbone is LaVaughn. She will take care of him because she cares for the needs of Jeremy, and I’m sure if he was older, he would take care of the needs of LaVaughn