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Boy Digs Deep
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
The backyard ibis has finally lost its leg. Eli feels bad for it, so he tosses it some of his sandwich. Dad tells Eli not to. These days, Dad seems different. He’s drinking less, and Eli wonders if losing his sons destroyed Dad’s life. Though Dad isn’t as great as dads from American sitcoms, he sometimes tells Eli he loves him by making Eli laugh. Or sometimes, when Dad is drunk, he asks Eli for a hug and says he’s sorry. During those hugs, Eli realizes that Dad probably hasn’t been touched for years. He also realizes that he’s a very forgiving person. It feels good to hug Dad back. It feels like the sort of thing that will make Eli a good man.
Eli has had enough time with Dad to now see that Dad isn’t a bad person. He’s plagued by clinical anxiety and drinks too much, but Eli can’t argue with the fact that Dad loves his sons. And love, Eli is learning, doesn’t have to look a certain way to be valid and meaningful. He’s even deciding that what matters most is forgiving Dad for his previous misdeeds. Dad is doing the best he can right now, and that’s enough for Eli. Choosing not to punish Dad when Dad shows he’s capable of change is how Eli chooses to be a good person.
Themes
August is a good man. Giving Shelly Huffman’s family the money led August to decide that what’s missing in people’s lives is giving to others. (Not long ago he told Eli that maybe this is what he was “brought back” for, but Eli insisted August never left.) Now, August spends his days walking around the suburbs with a donation bucket. Possibly because he never speaks to people he asks for money, he’s wildly successful at fundraising.
It’s a sign of how much Eli is growing up that he continues to reject August’s stories that he and Eli died and came back to life. This is how Eli asserts his independence from his brother, even as he continues to idolize August. And referring to August as a “good man” here also indicates that to Eli, at least, August has grown up—he’s an adult now.
Themes
Back in the present, Eli asks why he can’t feed the birds. Dad insists it’ll upset the ecological balance of the area and might cause a salmonella outbreak. Then, Eli asks Dad if he’s a good man. Dad doesn’t think he is, but Eli insists Dad is a good man—like Slim was at the end of his life. The yellow Ford Mustang passes by outside. Later that afternoon, the phone rings. It’s Mum—she has nowhere to go because Teddy will find her. Eli puts the phone down and tells Dad that Mum needs their help. Dad begs Eli to not ask this of him, but Eli reminds Dad that people are supposed to do the right thing, not the easy thing.
Even as Eli matures and develops a more nuanced view about good and bad, he’s still interested in asking this very simplistic question. The difference is that now, Eli realizes that being good and bad are choices. Dad made bad choices, but these days, he’s making good ones. And Eli is going to help Dad be an even better man by encouraging him to allow Mum to come stay—something that’s kind and generous, but by no means easy.
Themes
Dad drives Eli and August to pick up Mum at the train station. Eli can’t wait to see Mum’s smile, because it’ll mean everything is alright—but when Mum smiles, things aren’t okay. Her front teeth are gone. Mum doesn’t speak until Dad pulls into the driveway, and then she thanks him. Promptly, Eli and August clear out the book room, and August suggests they hold a book sale. As the boys cart books outside, Mum and Dad drink tea and talk—and Eli realizes that at one point, these two were lovers. It’s both gross and exciting to realize this.
Eli loses more of his innocence when he notices that Teddy knocked Mum’s teeth out. The world is full of violence, he’s realizing, and not even someone as good as Mum is safe from it. Realizing that his parents were once lovers is also a sign of his growing maturity. Essentially, he’s starting to see them as fellow people, not as one-dimensional parents. They had a life before him and are still living their lives, which are connected to but also separate from Eli’s.
Themes
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The phone rings. Ignoring Mum’s warning, Eli picks it up. Sure enough, it’s Teddy. Teddy demands to speak to Mum, and Dad whispers to Eli to say that they’ve called the cops. Eli relays the message, but Teddy says Mum won’t call the cops. He’s on his way to get her. Eli says he’s going to stab Teddy’s eyes out, and Dad is going to break Teddy’s neck. Eli screams that they’ll be waiting for Teddy and puts the phone down. Dad says he fights better drunk, gets up to down some rum, and tells August to get the axe handle.
Eli’s wish has finally come true: Mum doesn’t want to return to Teddy, and now Eli can finally protect her. Eli draws Dad into this and insists that Dad also stand up for Mum. This may be an attempt to intimidate Teddy, but it shows that Eli sees Dad as an ally and someone who will step up to do the right thing when needed. Sure enough, Dad does just that—though his fighting skills are called humorously into question.
Themes
According to Slim, time doesn’t really exist. It’s a construct. If it was a real thing, Eli could strangle it and hold it until he was the same age as Caitlyn Spies. Eli has always felt like he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he doesn’t feel like that now. He feels ready to take out Teddy with Dad, August, and their cricket bats. But as the three wait on the porch, the yellow Mustang pulls into the drive and a man in a tailored gray suit gets out of the car with a gift box. Dad snarls at the man to back off if he’s with Teddy, but the man just looks confused.
As he prepares to defend Mum against Teddy, Eli feels like he finally knows who he is—and for one of the first times in his life, he feels powerful and useful. This is in part because Eli is growing up. He’s no longer a child that adults feel like they must protect; rather, he’s old enough to stand with the adults. This passage becomes confusing and perhaps even absurd, though, when the man in the yellow Mustang arrives, seemingly for no reason.
Themes
Just then, a van pulls up on the street. Teddy and three cronies get out with baseball bats, and Teddy shouts for Mum to come out. Mum appears behind Dad and tells Teddy they’re done, but Teddy says he’s the one who gets to say when things are done. Terrified, Eli tells Teddy to go away. As Teddy approaches, the man in the gray suit steps up and tells Teddy to listen to Mum and go away. Eli already loves this man—especially when he punches Teddy and smashes Teddy’s nose. The man is Alex. Alex pulls a gun on Teddy and tells Teddy’s driver that he’s memorized the license plate. Teddy is not to come for Mum ever again, and if he does, Alex’s gang will get involved. As the van drives away, Alex says he hates bullies.
Alex was Eli’s pen pal until a few years ago. Because of the kindness and compassion that Eli showed Alex through his letters when Alex was in prison, Alex steps into a protective role for Eli and his family. And while Alex has been imprisoned (for a crime the novel never explains), Eli doesn’t hold this against Alex. Alex is, to Eli, a good and kind person because he stands up to “bullies” like Teddy. He’s making choices that make him a better man, just as Slim advised Eli to do before Slim died.
Themes
As Eli and Alex sit sipping tea with Mum and Dad, Alex says many people assumed he was getting lots of letters in prison, as the head of a major gang. But he wasn’t, and Eli’s letters were a lifeline. Alex thanks Mum and Dad for teaching Eli to be so nonjudgmental and kind. Then, Alex pushes the gift toward Eli. It’s a Dictaphone. Eli sobs. Alex asks if Eli is still going to be a journalist. Eli says he is, but breaking into the field is more difficult than he thought it’d be. Alex asks if he can help, and Eli says he needs a story worthy of the first page. Alex presses the “record” button and suggests an interview with the sergeant-at-arms of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
As Alex talks about relying on Eli’s letters in prison, Eli gets more proof that Slim knew exactly what he was doing when he encouraged Eli to write to Alex. In a way, Alex has stepped into Slim’s shoes as Eli’s protector and mentor. Now, Alex is going to push Eli to chase his dreams of becoming a journalist—and he’s willing to donate his time and his story to help Eli succeed.
Themes
