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Chapter 32
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 hears people screaming above deck but can’t understand what they’re saying. Jamal doesn’t want to see because he doesn’t want anything else bad to be happening. Rashida calls for him to come up and Jamal is thankful she is alive. He and Bibi climb to the deck and see a huge warship with its guns pointing at them. People on the boat are scared and are yelling not to shoot because there are babies on board. Jamal is not scared, however, because he recognizes the flag on the ship as Australia’s. He starts to laugh and cry and tells Bibi and Rashida the good news.
Exhausted from the unending tragedies, Jamal does not want to see what’s happening on deck. He has been conditioned to interpret commotion as bad news and cannot stand to face another problem. This illustrates the psychological effect that trauma can have long-term. Jamal’s natural curiosity and optimism have been worn out, leaving him jaded.
Themes
