Such a Fun Age

“Emira, I don’t care what you look like. I’ll pay for your cab here and your cab home.” 

In one of the first introductions to Alix Chamberlain’s character, she is permissive and unconcerned with money. Though she continues to spend her money with little anxiety, she cares very much what people “look like,” including when it comes to Emira. In this case, the other part of Alix’s persona revealed here is the fact that she is extremely self-absorbed; the only time she doesn’t need to “care” is when it has to do with her own family emergency. 

“As it seemed, her entire existence had become annulled.” 

Emira’s horrific experience at Market Depot relies on several white people acting in racist ways, from a mother who calls security to the security guard himself. As the tensions escalate, the security guard, a white man, ignores Emira to try to talk to two-year-old Briar. This kind of ignorant behavior is a common racist interaction where a white person privileges the opinion of another white person over that of a person of color no matter how inappropriate it may be in the circumstances. 

“But then, seemingly all at once, Briar started talking.”

When Briar starts talking, Alix loses her sense of wonder at her small child and begins having difficulty enjoying her time with her daughter. This kind of experience can be common for mothers who spend a significant amount of time with their young children, especially if the father is more absent, like in Peter’s case.