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Chapter 3
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
Will meets Angie at a café when he mistakes her for an attractive woman he’d encountered in a record store a few days earlier. Despite the awkward and slightly creepy mix-up—which involves a reference to the children’s TV show Pinky and Perky—Angie and Will start talking and eventually hit it off. On their first date, Angie is quick to inform Will that she has two children. Outwardly, Will responds as one hopes a potential romantic partner would: coolly and open-mindedly. Internally, meanwhile, he entertains running away from the restaurant and abandoning the date altogether.
Meeting Angie is a pivotal moment for both Will’s character and for the larger narrative at play, as it sets into motion the major events of the novel. Angie’s disclosure about her children poses a significant challenge to Will’s playboy, bachelor persona. His internal desire to flee when things are suddenly complicated by children reinforces his knee-jerk tendency to avoid responsibility and deeper connections, further underscoring his deeply ingrained fear of commitment.
Themes
Trying to win Angie over, Will continues feigning interest in children and, in spite of himself, steadily begins to believe that he might actually have a previously undiscovered affinity for kids. Dumbfounded by Angie’s beauty and convinced she would never be interested in him if she weren’t a single mum with hardly any time to date, Will concludes that the children of beautiful single mothers represent “a symbolic blemish, like a birthmark” which ultimately makes them more accessible to more “average,” unremarkable men. Thus, Will formulates a plan to exclusively date single mothers, believing that their standards are, by necessity, inherently lower.
Here, Will’s feigned interest in children demonstrates his willingness to deceive others for personal gain, and his belief that single mothers are easier targets because of their perceived flaws and vulnerabilities emphasizes his shallow, exploitative nature. It is difficult for Will to form genuine connections because of his preference to remain emotionally unattached and guarded; his ideal “relationships” require very minimal effort and commitment. That Will can so easily rationalize preying on single mothers, whom he has no intention of seeing long-term, makes his self-serving attitude all the clearer and demonstrates that he has little to no regard for their (or their children’s) feelings.
Themes
The more time Will spends with Angie and her kids, the more he marvels at the brilliance of his own strategy. He enjoys dating a beautiful woman who sincerely believes he’s one of the few “good” guys left just because he’s competent with her children—all without the pesky responsibility of parental duties. Will finds that even the sex with single mothers surpasses typical encounters, particularly if they’ve had poor, disappointing experiences with men in the past. Although he knows that his exploitative approach is bound to offend most people, Will is unfazed because, in his view, this gives him a competitive edge.
Will’s manipulation and self-congratulation run deep. His satisfaction with his strategy shows a complete lack of empathy and disregard for others’ emotional wellbeing. Convincing Angie of his goodness while avoiding real responsibility showcases his skill in deception. He believes his approach gives him a competitive edge, reflecting his morally bankrupt worldview and predatory attitude towards relationships.
Themes
About six weeks into their relationship, Will decides the time has come to break up with Angie, citing “the whole kid thing,” which sometimes “got in the way.” Surprisingly, however, Angie beats him to the punch. She explains that her ex-husband is uncomfortable with her dating someone new, which complicates things for her. She reassures Will that he has done nothing wrong, but Will could not be more relieved; his plan has worked so smoothly that he avoids the awkward discomfort of a one-sided breakup when he’s ready to move on. He almost feels guilty for how effectively he convinced Angie of his honesty, selflessness, and kindness, yet his success only motivates him to employ the same strategy on other unsuspecting single mothers.
Will effortlessly navigates and manipulates relationships to his advantage. His relief when Angie ends their relationship first illustrates his aversion to confrontation and responsibility. Any fleeting guilt he may have felt for deceiving Angie is quickly overshadowed by his satisfaction with his successful manipulation, reinforcing his lack of genuine remorse. He reasons that because his behavior isn’t technically hurting anyone, it can’t be that terrible of a thing to do. Will’s breakup with Angie marks a turning point for his character, as his effective “strategy” motivates him to continue exploiting single mothers, setting the stage for future conflicts.
Themes
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