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Chapter 35
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 the other refugees play a football game against the “Aussies.” It is Andrew’s idea, and Jamal is having a lot of fun. Omar is not having a good time, however, and Jamal thinks it might be because he’s not very good. Omar asks Jamal if he has heard what the people are saying about the camp, but Jamal ignores him and focuses on the football. They continue playing and, despite his hip pain, Jamal scores a goal. Instead of the crowd cheering, however, there’s silence. Then people begin to scream and sob, and Jamal finds out the other boat has sunk.
Distracted by the football game with the Aussies, Jamal fails to notice the rumors circulating camp about the other boat sinking. This illustrates both the positive and negative side of distraction: though the football game allows Jamal to have peace of mind a little longer, it also blinds him to a reality that everyone else is already aware of.
Themes
