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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Beautiful Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Addiction, Ruin, and Redemption
Responsibility and Blame
Parenthood and Control
Support vs. Enabling
The Disease Model, Stigma, and Treatment
Summary
Analysis
One fall morning, David goes through his routine with Nic: they go for a walk in Golden Gate Park before making pancakes at home. The apartment is strewn with toys and Legos, and Nic sings as he dresses and gets into the car. They’re running late. Nic asks to be tickled and then changes the subject to ask if he can take Klingon in school so that he can watch the Star Trek movies without subtitles. David hurries to the school before remembering that it’s Saturday.
This passage provides more insight into some of the idyllic aspects of Nic’s childhood, and it again emphasizes his brightness and creativity. Despite the divorce, David tries to create as calm and normal a life for Nic as he is able—despite occasional chaos like not knowing what day it is.
Themes
Soon after, David’s girlfriend (for whom he left Vicki) leaves him for another man. Nic has to contend with David’s heartbreak and his subsequent girlfriends. Once, when a woman stays over, David forgets to lock his bedroom door, and Nic crawls into bed in the morning to find the woman there. David later tries to explain why she is there, but he knows he has made a mistake. Shortly after, David takes a break from dating. Together, he and Nic spend time taking walks, riding cable cars, going to movies, cooking, and reading.
David also recognizes that he sometimes made parenting mistakes during Nic’s childhood. Here, he learns the necessity of putting Nic’s needs over his own. While it is important to prioritize his son, this will become an issue for David during the grip of Nic’s addiction, when David still wants to care for Nic at all costs.
Themes
In summer 1989, David meets a woman named Karen at a friend’s dinner party. She lives in Manhattan and is visiting her parents; she is a painter and a writer of children’s books. David gets her phone number, and they agree to meet when David visits New York. They keep in touch by telephone and letters, seeing each other on visits to New York and California. After six months, he introduces Karen to Nic. They spend hours drawing cartoons together. Soon after, Karen moves in with Nic and David in California; they relocate to a new house with a backyard.
Even though the divorce separates David and Vicki, Karen’s addition to the family provides Nic with another parental figure in his life and more stability than when David is dating. While David frequently blames the divorce for potentially contributing to Nic’s addiction, it is clear that his and Vicki’s divorce also allowed David to provide Nic with a happier family.
Themes
In May, David and Karen marry. Nic, who is now nine, is nervous about the change but relieved when they return to the house and everything is basically the same. Karen and Nic grow closer: she takes him to museums, teaches him French, and plays video games with him. Karen resists motherly duties, but gradually she starts driving carpool and tasks Nic with various chores. Karen calls Nic “sputnik”; he calls her “Mama” or “KB.”
Karen also gradually takes on a parental role in Nic’s life. With it comes an increased responsibility but also an increased sense of authority over him. The fact that Karen isn’t Nic’s actual mother, however, may cause conflict between Karen and David once Nic is in the throes of his addiction.
Themes
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Being a stepmother is not completely natural for Karen, but she is amazed how much she enjoys being a parental figure. Sometimes she wishes she were Nic’s real mother, though she is realistic about the fact that she isn’t. Occasionally, David unintentionally undermines Karen’s authority, and Nic frequently misses Vicki. Nic calls Vicki often, though hearing her voice sometimes makes him more upset.
Nic’s relationship with Karen adds to the idea that parenthood can be a gift, but it can also be difficult—Karen feels as though she has no way of controlling Nic. Without the ability to determine his upbringing, she feels that she doesn’t fully have the same authority as his parents do.
Themes
As Nic grows up, David recognizes that Nic is still clinging to some tokens of his childhood—but he is also approaching teenagerhood. He wears grungy flannel and styles his hair like Kurt Cobain. Nic gradually begins succumbing to peer pressure, but he continues to do well in school. In a report card, a teacher writes, “I wonder at the gifts he will undoubtedly bring to the world.”
David reinforces once more that even as Nic slips away from his innocence, others recognize his promising future. This only makes Nic’s imminent drug use and addiction even more heartbreaking, as he ruins the potential that was so evident in his childhood.
Themes
