Poverty
The play is a satirical play about a family stricken by poverty, which is its main theme. It is also ironic in that they continue to claim that they are not part of the starving class. Unfortunately, continuing to say this does not negate the fact that they are almost always hungry and there is never any real food in the house. Even Emma's school project is cooked and eaten before she can complete it. Although not stated outright, it appears that the family were sold worthless land by an underhanded real estate developer and are now struggling because it is barren and they cannot grow anything on it. This means that they cannot even support their own needs from the land but they cannot grow anything that they can sell either.
The continual grind of poverty is causing each of the characters to emotionally unravel in their own way. Weston is a drunk; Ella is mentally exhausted, Emma, constantly rebellious and getting more and more out of control. Wesley is starting to lose a sense of himself. The theme of poverty defines each of the characters and also demonstrates how difficult it is to get out of poverty once immersed in it.
Teenage Rebellion
Emma is a teen with a rebellious streak that seems to build as the play progresses. At the beginning of the play she is still focused squarely on her studies, taking her project very seriously and wanting to make sure that her work is perfect before she considers it completed. After realizing that Ella has cooked her project chicken she seems to go suddenly off the rails, taking the action extremely badly. Emma's character shows how quickly a well-balanced teen can unravel. She rides her horse into the Alibi Club and shoots holes in it with her father's shotgun, and finds that she actually enjoys both the feeling of criminality and the attention that she gets from it as well.
Dreams of a Better Life
All of the characters dream of a better life and these dreams involve not just a change in circumstances but a physical escape from their situation. Ella wants to go to Europe whilst Ella dreams of escaping to Mexico. Weston wants to be away from Ellis and his cohorts and so feels that Alaska would be a better bet. Wesley does not dream of a geographical escape but a financial one, and so tries to rain on the parade of dreams that his family hold dear to them.
