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Jamal’s Football
Landmines symbolize Jamal’s trauma. On his journey from Afghanistan to Australia, Jamal is often haunted by his memory of landmines. Though landmines are not a threat in the areas he is traveling, whenever confusion arises, or people show distress, he suspects landmines are the culprit. This is an ingrained response, the product of growing up in war-torn land peppered with landmines. Because of this, Jamal has come to view them as a constant threat, even when they are not. In this regard, landmines in Boy Overboard symbolize not just war, but the enduring trauma it creates. Just as landmines continue to be dangerous even after the end of a conflict, Jamal’s trauma associated with them lingers, even when landmines are no longer a direct threat to him.
Landmines Quotes in Boy Overboard
The Boy Overboard quotes below all refer to the symbol of Landmines. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5
Quotes
“I hate this whole country,” says Bibi after a while. “This country is camel snot.”
I’m shocked.
Nine-year-old kids shouldn’t hate their country. They should love their country and want it to do well in the World Cup and earn the respect of other nations so they’ll stop bombing us.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
‘We’ve got to get out of the house,’ he says. ‘Tonight. And we can’t ever come back.’
I feel like a landmine has exploded next to my head. My brain can hardly take in the words.
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Chapter 17
Quotes
I stand frozen, frantically trying to think how to help Dad. The police all have guns. Any sudden movements could be fatal. But I have to do something because if I don’t, Bibi will, and I’d rather have me shot than her.
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Landmines Symbol Timeline in Boy Overboard
The timeline below shows where the symbol Landmines appears in Boy Overboard. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Jamal calls for Bibi to watch out for the landmines. He tells her to stay still and begs silently for her to be safe. He...
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Chapter 3
...however, and starts running back towards Bibi. Yusuf yells that Bibi has stepped on a landmine.
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Chapter 4
...He finds Bibi and sees that she is unhurt; however, she is standing on a landmine, with one leg pressing down the metal plate. If she moves it, the bomb will...
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Chapter 40
...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...
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...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...
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