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Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Boy Overboard, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Immigration, Family, and Home
Identity and Ancestry
Hope
Gender and Discrimination
Summary
Analysis
Jamal and his family hide under sacks in the back of a s smuggler’s car. After being asked several times, their dad finally tells them where they’re going: Australia. Jamal and Bibi are shocked by the news. Jamal doesn’t know much about Australia, but he does know it’s far away and that it doesn’t have a team in the English Premier League. Men on the road then stop the car. Jamal and Bibi overhear a conversation about money between the men and the driver and hope that the men don’t find them in the truck.
Jamal and Bibi are shocked by the news that they’re moving to Australia. As is typical, Jamal immediately thinks of football, reflecting on the fact that Australia does not have a team in the English Premier League. Once again, football becomes the means by which Jamal processes the changes in his life, relating the unfamiliar to something he loves and understands.
Themes
The men let the car pass. Their dad says goodbye to the country, and Jamal realizes they’ve crossed the border out of Afghanistan. Jamal’s dad holds his hand from the backseat. Their mom cries, and their dad comforts her. Jamal checks his rucksack to make sure his football is still safe. Even though he hasn’t heard of any Australian football teams, he believes there might still be good ones and he wants to practice. He feels the candlestick inside his mom’s bag, and he thanks her ancestors.
Jamal and his family cross the border out of Afghanistan. While the rest of his family expresses grief, Jamal tries to ground himself in familiarity, feeling for his football and his mother’s candlestick through his rucksack. The first provides him with a sense of hope for the future, while the second gives him a sense of security in his family and in his identity.
Themes
