Previous
Chapter 23
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 finds their journey to Australia unpleasant. The boat is packed, and people are throwing up a lot, including Omar. Neither Jamal nor Bibi is throwing up, but Omar promises they will be once the waves get big. They also haven’t eaten much, having only been given a vegetable tin of water. Jamal isn’t hungry because he has a headache, and he misses his parents. Thankfully, two sailors are giving out noodle soup and Jamal and Bibi are next in line.
This passage highlights the difficulties of refugee’s lives, particularly refugee children. Though Jamal and Bibi are fortunate to not be throwing up, they are parentless and starving on a boat full of strangers and smugglers. Being young and powerless, they are at the mercy of those around them.
Themes
The person in front of Bibi and Jamal in line for soup is wearing a large blanket. As the person reach for their soup, their sleeve catches on fire in the gas flame. Jamal yells fire and pulls the blanket off the person. Together, he and Bibi stamp out the flames and hand the blanket back to the person. Jamal is shocked to see the person is a teenage girl in a shirt and t-shirt, wearing makeup and green lip-gloss. She thanks Jamal and takes her blanket back.
Again, Jamal proves himself to brave and reliable in a crisis. While others stand around and watch the girl’s blanket catch fire, Jamal takes action, saving her life as well as the boat from catching fire. This moment also illustrates Jamal’s unfamiliarity with non-conservative female clothing. Though he has been raised to be open-minded and treat girls the same as he’d treat boys, he is still shocked at the sight of a girl in shorts and a t-shirt.
Themes
Unfortunately, the sailor serving the food—the sailor in the yellow overalls—refuses to give the girl soup because of the fire, and Bibi yells at him for being unfair. The sailor then refuses to give Jamal and Bibi any food, either. Bibi starts to protest, but the teenage girl stops her, telling her it’s more important to make it to Australia safely than to eat. Jamal thanks the teenage girl, who says the sailor probably didn’t wash his hands anyway. Jamal decides he likes the girl.
Though Bibi’s righteousness here proves troublesome—losing them their soup—it does earn them the teenage girl’s friendship. This highlights the upside of Bibi’s uncompromising moral activism; though often problematic, Bibi’s unwavering righteousness endears some people to her. This passage also highlights Jamal open-mindedness. Though he has never met someone dressed like the girl before, he quickly moves past his shock, appreciating her for who she is.
Themes
