Twins

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-11

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Clothing

Clothing symbolizes Maureen and Fran’s individuality and desire to distinguish themselves from one another. Fran exhibits this desire first when she begins middle school with a new retro wardrobe, hoping that this will allow her peers and teachers to tell the difference between her and Maureen. Ironically, this doesn’t work at first because nobody has any way of knowing which twin has adopted a new look over the summer. On their first day, people still mistakenly refer to Fran as “Maureen.” Still, Fran’s unique clothing sends a clear message that Maureen and Francine are not the same person, and that there are significant differences between the two girls. Later, Maureen also works to distinguish herself from Fran, and she wears her Cadet Corps uniform to visually accomplish this. Even though the uniform is meant to make the members of Cadet Corps look similar to each other, the uniform also succeeds at distinguishing Maureen from Fran, because everyone knows that Maureen is in Cadet Corps and Fran isn’t. The uniform illustrates the fact that individuality is a complex concept, for the same thing that makes Maureen an “individual” compared to her sister makes her part of a unified group when she’s in Cadet Corps class.

Names and Nicknames

Names and nicknames symbolize individual identity. Although each character’s given name represents a core part of their relational identity, self-chosen nicknames are indicative of their developing personas. Francine’s given name connects her to her family, for she was named after her great-grandmother. Her name also connects her to her twin sister Maureen, whose name almost rhymes. When Francine chooses to go by “Fran” instead, this shift is her way of emphasizing her own free will, but it also distinguishes her from her sister and establishes her unique identity. Nicknames given by other characters also further illustrate the twins’ personalities; Dad gives Maureen the nickname “the thinker” while calling Fran “the speaker,” indicating each girl’s unique strengths. Nicknames can also be used to bully characters and reduce them to one aspect of their identity or one incident from their past, as when someone vandalizes Maureen’s campaign poster and labels her “Barf Face.” Depending on who crafts a nickname and for what purpose, nicknames have the potential to either illuminate a person’s true identity or minimize and demean the person. In all cases, nicknames and given names symbolize different aspects of a character’s persona, whether revealing how they see themselves or how others perceive them.

Bedrooms

Bedrooms symbolize personal identity and safe havens for the characters. The twins’ bedroom is a place where they can feel safe, secure, and comfortable, and they also fill the space with objects that represent who they are. The twins’ shared room contains pictures of them together, along with a variety of other keepsakes that emphasize their closeness and mutual interests. The room is bright, colorful, and joyful, and this image symbolizes the twins’ close relationship until tension builds when they start middle school.

When the twins’ frustration with each other requires them to move into separate bedrooms, this symbolizes the distance that has arisen between them and the sadness that Maureen experiences as a result. When Maureen first moves into Curtis’s room, it is dark and messy and is filled with Curtis’s belongings, none of which reflect Maureen’s personality or interests. For example, the room contains Curtis’s clothing, a banner for Curtis’s college, a basketball hoop, and Curtis’s calendar. Maureen does not feel secure or comfortable in this room; instead, she feels like she has been ostracized from her safe space and forced into another space where she feels like a stranger. However, over time, Maureen moves into Curtis’s room permanently, taking more of her own possessions from the room she used to share with Fran and making Curtis’s old space into her own. This shift symbolizes Maureen’s evolution, for she grows to feel more secure in her own identity.