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Chapter 17
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 has never been to an airport before; he’s only seen them on TV. Unlike on TV, there is no waiting room with amenities. They drive directly onto the runway. Everyone is relieved, as they’ve been traveling by bus the entire night, though Jamal’s mom still seems unhappy. When they get off the bus, the driver drives off, leaving them alone on the runway. Everyone looks worried, and Jamal’s mom says she hopes they can trust the smugglers. Jamal realizes that the men helping them are not from the UN.
Jamal attempt to relate his new experiences with his existing knowledge leads to disappointment. As is the case here, Jamal’s expectations fall flat of reality. Though he expects the airport to be like the airports he has seen on TV, the two could not be less alike. This passage also highlights the uncertainty and the danger that Jamal’s family faces by working with smugglers. They can book passage out of the country relatively quickly, but it seems uncertain whether they’ll get out safely—or indeed, if they’ll actually get out at all.
Themes
They decide to wait on the plane, but before they can board several security guards run over and stop them. They scan their bags for metal objects and Jamal worries that his mother’s candlestick will set it off. No alarm goes off, however, and Jamal realizes that the candlestick is gone: his mom sold it to buy their passage to Australia. Now he understands why she is so unhappy. They’re about to be smuggled into Australia by dangerous men and they’re no longer protected by their ancestors.
Jamal learns that his mother sold her candlestick to buy them passage on the smuggler’s plane, underscoring the depth of her love for her family. Though the candlestick is a priceless family heirloom with great spiritual importance, she is willing to part with it to protect her family. It is this sacrifice that allows them to escape the fate of the other refugees stuck at the camp.
Themes
