Previous
Chapter 4
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, Bibi, and Yusuf sneak into the village. Bibi is disguised as a boy, but she keeps loudly insulting their country and Jamal worries she will attract attention. He doesn’t like her hatred of Afghanistan, as he believes that kids should love their country. Thankfully nobody notices them, and they make it to the front of their house. Before they can enter, however, Mr. Nassar, their neighbor, confronts them and wrongfully blames them for breaking his front window. They deny it, and Jamal shows his skills with the football to prove he’s too good to make such a mistake. Bibi makes a commotion, however, and Jamal gets distracted, kicking the ball through Mr. Nassar’s other window.
Bibi continues to cause problems for Jamal and Yusuf, and Jamal is concerned by her hatred of Afghanistan. Jamal feels that children should be rooting for their country, not against it. His experience is different from Bibi’s however, being a boy. He does not experience the same level of discrimination she does, and he enjoys many freedoms she does not, like playing football. In fact, much of Jamal’s patriotism is linked to his love of football, a love which Bibi shares but cannot partake in the same way Jamal can, being a girl. While Jamal can dream of becoming a national football player for Afghanistan, Bibi cannot.
Themes
Mr. Nassar threatens to call the police, but thankfully Jamal and Bibi’s father arrives. He apologizes for their mistake and promises to pay for the windows. He notices that Bibi is there, but pretends she is another boy, promising Mr. Nassar that the other “boys” will be punished by their parents. Mr. Nassar is intimidated by the fierceness in their father’s eyes, which Jamal’s explains is really fatigue from his long hours driving the taxi. Their dad pulls them all into the car and drives down the street, dropping off Yusuf. Jamal hopes his father will wink to show he isn’t angry, but he doesn’t.
Jamal and Bibi’s dad quickly resolves the conflict with Mr. Nassar, cleverly covering for Bibi’s presence. This shows him to be not only resourceful and quick thinking, but also respected within the community. He approaches conflict calmly, but with confidence. This foreshadows their father’s adept dealings with various figures later in the story.
Themes
