55 pages • 1 hour read
Ibi ZoboiMy Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A 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
Outer Space Symbolizes a Safe Space
Outer space symbolizes a safe space for Ebony-Grace, as the outer space narrative exists in her imagination, so it’s under her control. The book’s first paragraph reveals that Ebony-Grace has an urgent need to be the person with the power. On the airplane, she declares, “These clouds are a concrete wall! The airplane won’t push past the gray and blue to reach the endless black called outer space. So I have to take control” (9). Ebony-Grace doesn’t control the airplane (she’s not the pilot), and she didn’t have a say as to whether she’d visit her dad in Harlem (she wanted to stay with Granddaddy in Huntsville), but by filtering the countless variables of reality through her imagination, she takes charge of whatever the situation she’s in. Thus, when the girls bombard her with insulting inquiries, she transforms the overwhelming situation into a superhero moment, stating, “I block their laser-beam gibberish by throwing up my arms like Wonder Woman with her Bracelets of Submission” (46). Outer space protects her from people and helps her cope. However, it also turns interacting with people into an ordeal.
The symbolism behind outer space doesn’t change, but how Ebony-Grace uses science fiction and superheroes to deal with reality alters. Through the Prime Directive and the Genesis Device, she lets reality stay messy and stops imposing her safe space on the material world. She accepts that it isn’t under her control, and trying to force it into her jurisdiction will likely only lead to further vexation with the people around her.
New York City Symbolizes Chaos
The symbolism behind outer space juxtaposes the symbolism behind New York City, as the former unfolds in her domain (her mind), and the latter is noisy, busy, and filled with people doing things that Ebony-Grace can’t completely understand. Before Ebony-Grace travels to New York, the city symbolizes chaos, with the news on TV telling her “all the very bad, terrible, and awful things happening in New York City” (11). Momma reinforces the unpredictability of New York with her proliferation of rules. As Ebony-Grace puts it, “Momma keeps sweet-yelling over the phone, telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing at Daddy’s house, in his shop, and on ‘those crazy Harlem streets with those little street urchins’” (31). Even when she’s in the brownstone, the noisy streets press her “against the wall like a scaredy-cat” (58).
Through imagery, Zoboi advances the chaos of the city, turning Ebony-Grace into a tour guide for the reader as she points out the trash on the streets, the dilapidated buildings, the people who look like they’re struggling, and the people with elusive occupations. New York City continues to represent a level of chaos throughout the story, but Ebony-Grace’s relationship with the topsy-turvy environment alters. She admits, “[I]t’s all crazy. Ain’t nothing funny about No Joke City, all right. I’m starting to like it here” (195). Demonstrating growth, Ebony-Grace accepts her tumultuous surroundings.
The Genesis Device Symbolizes Hope
In the Star Trek franchise, the Genesis Device has a literal function: It brings people back from the dead and fixes whatever’s broken. Applied to Ebony-Grace’s reality, the Genesis Device turns into a symbol of hope. After watching the film, Bianca wonders, “You think something like that would work here?” Ebony-Grace replies, “I definitely think the Genesis Device can work here” (196). The implication is that New York City is broken and dying, and the place needs something from the outside, like the Genesis Device, to put it back together and restore its life. Bianca and Ebony-Grace have hope that New York City can flourish.
Pablo Jones complicates the symbolism behind the Genesis Device when he tells Ebony-Grace, “Everything here is still alive. People who don’t know always say these neighborhoods are dead, but we’re still here, still living. You know what I mean” (250). The city doesn’t need fixing. It has critical issues, but the formidable problems don’t stop people from building vibrant lives. What needs to change is Ebony-Grace’s perspective on New York. As she admits, “Maybe the Genesis Device can change how a captain sees a new planet, not the other way around” (291). The Genesis Device doesn’t represent an external hope. New York doesn’t need people to bring it hope. The people there already have hope—they possess spirit and culture. The Genesis Device symbolizes a tool that alters outside people’s perspectives and allows them to see the aspiration and soul alive and well in New York City.
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By Ibi Zoboi
