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Chapter 39
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 dreams of scoring a goal for Manchester United. Bibi, who is also on the team, gives him a hug, as do his parents. He feels good, but when he wakes up, he remembers everything and feels bad again. Bibi shakes Jamal to get up and Jamal instinctually assumes someone has stepped on a landmine. He figures no one told them about there being landmines because they did not want to upset orphans like them. Jamal is not worried, however, because has a plan: he’ll cry for two hours a day and then be a productive Australian citizen the rest of the time.
Like after the pirates raided the ship, Jamal dreams of an alternative world in which his family is reunited, and where everyone is happy. Upon waking, however, Jamal does not shirk from responsibility. He confronts the reality of his predicament, showing remarkable maturity and resilience. Acknowledging his need for mourning, he decides to cry for two hours a day, but work hard the rest to support him and Bibi—which is humorous and also profoundly sad.
Themes
People are shouting, but Jamal realizes the shouts sound too happy for them to be about a landmine. He and Bibi run outside and see the warship is back. Jamal realizes they must be bringing back the survivors and follows Bibi down to the jetty. People climb out of the boat and Jamal is confused who all of them are. He sees Omar hugging a big family and thinks he must be dreaming. Jamal sees a man break down after receiving news from an officer and realizes that news has come back about who drowned. Bibi screams excitedly and Jamal turns to see his parents. His mom explains the warship didn’t see them at first, but then they did. The family embraces.
Just as soon as Jamal accepts his parents’ death, abandoning all hope of their return, they arrive by surprise on the Australian warship. This highlights Jamal’s complicated relationship to hope and optimism. Though he is consistently the most hopeful character in the story, it is he who is most shocked by his parent’s return.
Themes
