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Chapter 20
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 realizes that everyone gasped because the gates to the boats opened. Jamal tries to forget about the ball, focusing on bringing Bibi and himself back to their parents. Their parents are being pushed towards the gate by the crowd and Jamal tries to catch up with them. Once they’re through the gate, Bibi goes after the ball, moving away from their parents. Jamal chases her and finds her unsuccessfully trying to retrieve the ball from the water. She says they need it for their dream of becoming soccer players to come true. Jamal agrees but does not want to lose their parents.
Despite his emotional attachment to the football, Jamal focuses on the more important task of reuniting his family. Bibi, however, being younger and more stubborn, rashly chases after the ball, separating them from their parents. This illustrates that, while the qualities Jamal reveres in desert warriors are important––like bravery and courage––they can also be problematic if not checked by other qualities, like patience.
Themes
The boy from earlier shows up and says he’ll get it if they “go halves.” He climbs down to the water to get closer to the ball, putting himself in danger of being crushed by the boat. He slips and falls into the water and Jamal screams for help. No one hears him, however, so he runs to a sailor in yellow overhauls. Jamal explains the situation, but the man does not understand. Jamal grabs the man’s pole, and the man smacks him in the face, prompting Bibi to kick and bite the sailor. He picks her up and throws Bibi off the side of the boat.
The relationship between Jamal and the boy who stole his football continues to get complicated. He seems to insert himself into Jamal and Bibi’s life at every opportunity, though his motivations for doing so are unclear. As is the case here, it almost seems as though he wants to help or be friends, but just doesn’t know how to do so. Jamal approaches the sailor in a way that suggests he believes the people smuggling them on the boats are kind and trustworthy. But throwing Bibi overboard suggests that once again, Jamal may severely misunderstand the situation.
Themes
