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Boy Steals Ocean
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 thinks often of Slim telling him to do his time before it does him. August enters his final year of school, and Dad becomes a reasonable cook. Sometimes Dad walks halfway to the supermarket and comes home with nothing, having had a panic attack halfway there. Eli rides the bus with Dad sometimes and tells him stories until the panic gets to be too much. Not long after weaker beer arrives in Queensland, Dad gets a job. For three weeks, he’s happy and even purchases a Toyota. But then he loses his temper at work, gets fired, and gets drunk. A judge takes his license away, and he’s sentenced to community service at Eli and August’s school. Then, one day, Dad picks up the ringing phone and says Mum is getting out a month early.
It’s not clear exactly how much time has passed between this chapter and the last one. But what is clear is that Dad is starting to get a handle on his clinical anxiety, and this makes him a more reliable and involved parent. Eli’s tone is far more understanding of his dad’s struggles with anxiety; he never expresses anger or annoyance, for instance, that Dad is sometimes not able to make it all the way to the grocery store. Learning that Mum is getting out early is a bombshell for everyone, it seems—her reentry into their lives will change everything.
Themes
Walking through the Darra suburbs, Eli is shocked to see a dry and brown lawn that was once teeming with colorful roses. As he turns the corner onto Darren Dang’s street, he stops: Vietnamese men in navy tracksuits are sitting at the top of Darren’s driveway. They approach Eli, holding machetes, and ask what’s in the bag. Eli says he has a business proposal for Darren but has no idea what’s going on when the men ask if he’s with BTK. Finally, Eli passes over the bag and explains that Bich Dang sold it to Lyle long ago, and Eli wants to sell it back. After patting Eli down, one of the men leads Eli up the drive.
Things have changed a lot in Darra since Eli left a few years ago. Darren’s mark is visible as Eli encounters what seems to be members of Darren’s gang: Darren was fond of machetes and theatricality, hence his gang members’ matching tracksuits. This is all just confusing and worrying for Eli, however. He no longer knows how to be a part of Darra’s drug scene, since things have changed so much since Lyle bought the heroin.
Themes
Rather than heading for the living room, the man leads Eli across the lawn—which is now fenced with barbed wire—to a bunker in the backyard. Inside, there are more men dressed in navy tracksuits, and one in red. It’s Darren. Darren doesn’t seem to recognize Eli and puts a knife to Eli’s eye—and then howls with laughter. Darren says what happened to Lyle was awful, and he insists that Bich Dang didn’t out Lyle to Tytus Broz. Teddy did. Then, Darren explains that his mum has cataracts now, so Dustin Vang and BTK—the gang, Born to Kill—do all the importing. Darren and Bich Dang are part of 5T (Love, Money, Prison, Sin, and Revenge in Vietnamese).
Darren doesn’t seem to have changed a bit, which is both disturbing and comforting for Eli. He still enjoys threatening others with weapons for amusement, and he’s still a valuable source of insider information. It’s perhaps not surprising for Eli to learn that Teddy was the one to reveal Lyle’s extra dealings to Tytus Broz, since Eli decided Teddy was a selfish coward long ago. However, this does start to turn Teddy into an even more villainous character for Eli, even if Teddy isn’t on the same level as Tytus Broz.
Themes
A young boy in a navy tracksuit knocks on the door and says BTK is outside. Darren turns to Eli and asks what he wants for the heroin in the bag. Eli asks for $80,000, but Darren says he’ll give Eli $50,000. Another gang member fetches Eli the cash, and Darren puts it back in Eli’s bag. Darren also gives Eli a machete and says it’s Eli’s responsibility to help defend Darra from the newcomers. Eli dutifully follows Darren and listens to the gang leaders exchange insults in the street. Then, Eli raises his voice and shouts that Australia is everyone’s home; there’s no need to fight. He puts his machete down. A moment later, the armies clash. Eli hurries away.
Seeing the young boy dressed like the other gang members shows Eli how entrenched the drug business is in Darra. Not even kids can escape it—in fact, they’re perhaps being drawn in even earlier now than they were just a few years ago. In Eli’s opinion, the gang warfare is a bit ridiculous, though his main issue seems to be with how dramatic Darren makes everything—the machetes seem to be too much for Eli. But Eli is now an outsider, so his opinions don’t matter much to the gangs.
Themes
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