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Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in About a Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Chosen Family
Coming of Age and Maturity
Alienation and Mental Illness
Identity, Pop Culture, and Fitting In
Summary
Analysis
Marcus’s intense anxiety about his new school—particularly concerning “the basic problem” of “who he was” and his bullies—prevents him from getting much sleep the night after his first day. As each hour passes, his dread grows, and he becomes painfully aware there is no chance of shaking his anxious feelings. At breakfast, his silence betrays his apprehension, and his mum tells him that he’ll eventually “get used to” his new surroundings. Although he knows that this is probably true, he still prepares himself for the worst, internalizing his fear so as not to burden his mother with more worry.
Here, the reader is introduced to Marcus’s characteristic deep-seated anxiety and insecurities, which keep him awake all night long. He refers to his authentic self as a “problem,” pointing to the impact his new bullies already appear to have on his self-esteem. That Marcus internalizes his fears rather than expressing them to his mum directly speaks to his belief that it’s his responsibility to shield her from additional worry, on top of the depression from which she already suffers.At only 12 years old, Marcus has developed a sense of maturity that most of his peers lack, and the close, protective relationship he has with his mum reflects the weight of his responsibilities.
Themes
To avoid the kids who bullied him on his first day, Marcus gets to school early. Reflecting on his various eccentricities, he concludes that his mother is largely to blame for his weirdness. She dismisses the trends, artists, and clothes popular with kids his age as “rubbish,” steering him instead toward classic, “hippy” interests and artists like her personal favorites, Joni Mitchell and Bob Marley. Marcus recognizes that his nonconformity makes him stand out, and because he stands out—because he is different—he becomes an outcast. In Cambridge, where “loads of kids [...] weren’t right for school,” being weird was much less of a problem than it seems to be so far in London.
Marcus finds that his new London school is nothing like his old school in Cambridge, where he was never made to feel like the odd one out. His newfound social alienation leads him to consider the role his mother plays in his perceived weirdness, as her more dated preferences dictate the clothes he wears and the music he listens to. At 12 years old, Marcus stands on the precipice of young adulthood, where he must learn to make his own decisions about how he presents himself to the rest of the world. His burgeoning awareness of his own individuality creates a tension between who he wants to be and who his mum expects him to be, a recurring plot point throughout the novel.
Themes
Of course, Marcus knows that his strangeness is not entirely his mum’s fault. For instance, when he becomes too distracted by his anxieties, he sometimes unconsciously starts singing whatever song or tune is stuck in his head. This happened yesterday during his very first English class, and he didn’t even realize what he was doing until his classmates’ laughter snapped him out of it. Initially, his second day of school seems more successful than his first. He gathers enough courage to approach a teacher and joins their computer club, traversing the entire playground alone to do so. However, when his English class once again mocks him for the previous day’s outburst and his teacher does nothing to discourage their cruel behavior, Marcus is left feeling anxious, isolated, and humiliated all over again.
This section details the primary external manifestation of Marcus’s anxiety: His unconscious public singing, which helps him self-soothe in moments of fear or stress. When his own teacher—the one adult who kids are supposed to be able to trust for support—does nothing to intervene when his classmates blatantly mock him for his “weird” coping mechanism, he feels even more embarrassed and alone. His utter lack of control in such social situations diminishes his self-confidence further, pointing to the cyclical nature of his anxiety and his ongoing struggle to find acceptance and stability.
Themes
