You, Again

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

The Brodsky’s restaurant and the building in which it once stood are symbolic of Josh’s growth as an individual and his relationship with his father. When Josh tries to turn Brodsky’s into The Brod after Danny’s death, he does so out of a desire to separate his identity from his family history, something that is intertwined with his dislike of seeing his privilege as a factor in his life. Josh, early in the text, believes that following any part of his father’s guidance means wholesale giving up his identity as being due to his father. He feels that he must entirely reject anything to do with Brodsky’s to be his own person.

After Danny dies and The Brod fails, Brodsky’s becomes a symbol to Josh of his perceived failure. He despises the building and insists that he wishes to sell it, though he continually drags his feet when it comes to securing a buyer. It is only when Josh can remake Brodsky’s into something somewhat, but not entirely, new—Shaak + Schmaltz, his pop-up restaurant with Radhya—that he can embrace that his past and his father’s legacy are part of him but not the whole of him.