Boy Overboard Themes

Boy Overboard follows young Jamal’s family as they leave Afghanistan to seek asylum in Australia. Persecuted by the Afghan government for running an illegal school, Jamal and his family are forced to flee their country. This is a traumatic experience, as Jamal’s family has deep ancestral ties to Afghanistan, they’re an integral part of their community, and Jamal dreams of being able to stay and “fix” his country’s government. As such, leaving Afghanistan is…

Jamal’s ancestors are both desert warriors and bakers, and for much of the book he wonders which one he is more like. To Jamal, these ancestors offer a template for his present and future, showing him both what he is and can be. Each occupation symbolizes different qualities to Jamal, and he finds himself embodying—or wishing to embody—one or the other as he navigates the various trials encountered along his journey. Early in the…

In Boy Overboard, Jamal and his family are acutely aware of the fact that girls and women don’t have the same rights or opportunities as boys and men in Afghanistan. The government forbids girls from receiving education, leaving the house without a male escort, and most annoyingly for Jamal’s sister Bibi, playing football (soccer). Boy Overboard makes it clear that these rules are nonsensical: as Bibi and Rashida, an older girl Jamal…