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Boy Writes Words
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Boy Swallows Universe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Goodness, Masculinity, and Coming of Age
Trauma, Coping, and Healing
Family, Love, and Mentorship
Storytelling and Justice
Money, Suburbia, and Criminality
Summary
Analysis
Eli and August creep into Lena’s room, which is off-limits to everyone but Lyle. It’s the “room of true love” and “true companionship,” where Lyle’s father, Aureli Orlik, died in 1968. Lyle’s mother, Lena, lasted another eight years after losing her husband. They met in a German displaced persons camp in 1945; Lyle was born there in 1949. Then, they immigrated to Australia in 1951. Aureli built this house room by room on the weekends.
Eli doesn’t share why, exactly, this room connotes “true love” and “true companionship” to him. He may see Lena and Aureli’s relationship as particularly romantic, or there may be more to it than that. But what is clear is that once again, Eli is focused on stories from the past that inform how he sees things unfold in the present.
Themes
August leads Eli to the built-in wardrobe, which Lyle built. At August’s nod, Eli opens the door. Aureli died quietly—his last word was “Sorry.” Lena died when her car hit a semi-truck. Lyle knew it wasn’t an accident, but he was too high to say anything to the police officers. Back in the present, August pushes back clothes in the wardrobe to reveal a black void. Eli, though, can’t stop remembering how Mum met Lyle through a mutual friend at the women’s refuge. Lyle came to visit the woman and soon started visiting Mum. Their relationship was tumultuous, as Lyle got Mum into drugs and then got her off drugs again. When they were using heavily, August cleaned up needles and took care of Eli. During that time, Eli thought Mum was beautiful—she looked like an angel.
Again, the focus of this passage isn’t whatever Eli and August are up to—it’s these stories about Lena and Aureli’s deaths, and about the early days of Mum and Lyle’s relationship. Recalling how August cleaned up after Mum and Lyle characterizes August as a responsible older brother, and even as responsible beyond his years. Eli, on the other hand, seems very young. He clearly idolizes Mum and doesn’t seem to grasp what was actually going on when Mum was using drugs so heavily. Describing her as an “angel” suggests that Eli didn’t really see a problem with the drugs—they made Mum beautiful in his eyes.
Themes
Back in the present, August climbs through the hole in the wardrobe, and Eli follows. The hole leads to a dark room with a red telephone that rings. August picks it up, ignoring Eli’s warnings to leave it alone. He then passes the phone to Eli. A man’s voice refuses to give his name but says that Eli knows who he is. They discuss that Lyle is dealing Golden Triangle heroin, and they talk about Slim. Eli says he believes everything Lyle says because Lyle says he can’t lie—but the man on the phone says that’s nonsense. Just as the man calls Eli by name and asks if Eli wants the full story, Lyle slides open the door from the wardrobe and shouts at Eli and August.
Readers and Eli seem equally in the dark about who’s on the other end of the line; the novel revisits this mystery later. But whoever is on the phone seems very knowledgeable about Eli, August, and Lyle, since this man knows so much about the particular type of heroin Lyle is selling. Eli demonstrates his loyalty to Lyle—and his youth—by insisting that if Lyle says he can’t lie, that must be true. The man on the phone, though, suggests that Eli shouldn’t take Lyle at his word; Lyle can lie, just like any other person.
Themes
Eli drops the phone and follows August into a tunnel leading out of the room. The tunnel reminds Eli of a story a Vietnamese friend at school told about exploring Viet Cong tunnels when he visited Vietnam. But then, as Eli starts to smell human waste, he and August emerge in what they realize is the old outhouse’s pit. Lyle is looking down at them from the hole. Lyle reaches a hand down to pull the boys out, but Eli refuses. He demands Lyle tell him about the man on the red telephone and accuses Lyle of using drugs again, but Lyle insists the phone doesn’t get calls. Lyle leaves the boys alone.
Given how angry Lyle seems, it makes sense that Eli doesn’t want to get too close—he’s done something that angered his caregiver. But Eli trusts Lyle, so from his relatively safe spot in the outhouse pit, he feels okay asking Lyle for answers. It complicates things when Lyle says the phone doesn’t get calls—this means either that Eli and August were imagining things in the previous passage, or that the phone can do things Lyle isn’t aware of.
Themes
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Four years ago, Eli thought Lyle was going to leave forever when Lyle insisted he needed to “get better.” But Lyle did return, and when he got home, Eli called him Dad. Lyle gently reminded Eli he wasn’t Eli’s dad. Five days later, Lyle locked Mum in Lena’s room. Mum screamed and beat the walls for days. Through the door, she asked Eli to call the police, but August wouldn’t let him. Eli played Mum’s favorite song, “Ruby Tuesday,” on repeat and after seven days, Lyle let Mum out. They went into their bedroom and August and Eli went into Lena’s room. They took in the bedpan and the holes in the bloody walls, and they knew Mum had won her battle.
Given what happens once Lyle returns, “get[ting] better” refers to detoxing from drugs. Eli’s innocence shines through in this passage when he’s so distraught about Lyle leaving, as he seems not to understand why this is happening. Then, calling Lyle “Dad” when he gets back illustrates how close Eli is to Lyle. The fact that Lyle isn’t related doesn’t matter—this is the man Eli sees as his father, which hints that Eli probably doesn’t have a particularly close or healthy relationship with his biological dad. Lyle then forces Mum to get off drugs too, which is another way that Lyle cares for his chosen family; he gives Eli and August two functional, caring parents.
Themes
