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Eli’s lucky finger represents his childhood innocence and his coming-of-age process. Early in the novel, Eli shares with readers an anecdote about the moment he became conscious of his own existence. He was about four years old, and he became suddenly aware of the freckle on his right forefinger. The freckle and the finger came to represent Eli’s sense of self. And Eli also shares how later, after Slim began babysitting him, Slim listened to the anecdote and observed that the freckle and the finger represent “home.” This conveys that the finger represents Eli’s feelings of happiness, security, and belonging.
Those happy and secure feelings disappear, though, when Iwan Krol cuts off Eli’s lucky finger on the night that he and Tytus Broz drag away Lyle to murder him and Mum ends up going to prison. Eli’s childhood effectively ends at this point: suddenly, Eli realizes that the adults he trusted to care for him can’t actually protect him from evil men like Tytus Broz. This is particularly true of Lyle but also of Slim, who won’t make it so Eli doesn’t have to go live with Dad. For much of the novel, then, Eli mourns the loss of his finger and of the innocence and security the finger represented for him. It’s cathartic, then, to discover his finger in Tytus’s underground bunker, and to use the specimen jar holding the finger to hit Iwan over the head. This represents Eli reclaiming his right to his own body, at the same time as he helps bring about the arrest and downfall of the two men who stole his innocence so many years ago.
Eli’s Lucky Finger Quotes in Boy Swallows Universe
The Boy Swallows Universe quotes below all refer to the symbol of Eli’s Lucky Finger. 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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Boy Writes Words
Quotes
So the freckle is always consciousness. My personal big bang. The lounge. The yellow and brown shirt. And I arrive. I am here. I told Slim I thought the rest was questionable, that the four years before that moment might as well have never happened. Slim smiled when I told him that. He said that freckle on my right forefinger knuckle is home.
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Boy Conquers Moon
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“Bevan Penn,” I say. “They pixelated his face in all the photos but, I swear, Gus, he’s us. He’s you and me.”
“What do you mean, he’s you and me?”
“I mean, that coulda been us. I mean, his mum and dad look like Mum and Lyle looked when I was eight years old, you know. And I been thinkin’ how Slim used to talk about cycles and time and things always coming back around again.”
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Girl Saves Boy
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“Just let it ring out, Eli,” she says softly. “What’s he going to tell you”—she puts her other hand behind my head, her perfect and gentle hand sliding down to the back of my neck—“that you don’t already know?”
And the phone rings again as she moves into me and the phone rings again as she closes her eyes and presses her lips against mine and I will remember this moment through the stars I see on the ceiling of this secret room and the spinning planets those stars surround and the dust of a million galaxies scattered across her bottom lip. I will remember this kiss through the big bang. I will remember the end through the beginning.
And the phone stops ringing.
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Get the entire Boy Swallows Universe LitChart as a printable PDF.
Eli’s Lucky Finger Symbol Timeline in Boy Swallows Universe
The timeline below shows where the symbol Eli’s Lucky Finger appears in Boy Swallows Universe. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Boy Writes Words
...wanders. Eli’s brother, August, is sitting on the fence, writing in the air with his finger. When Slim snaps and asks if Eli is listening, Eli lies that he is—but he’s...
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Boy Loses Luck
...Iwan puts Eli’s right hand on the table and holds his knife to Eli’s lucky forefinger. Then, Tytus asks August what Lyle wrote in the air. August feigns ignorance and Eli,...
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Boy Busts Out
...“Boy swallows universe” in the air. Eli picks up a hand to write back—but his finger is gone and bleeding. Eli comes to in a hospital room, his hand aching and...
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...were messing with a Star Wars figurine and an axe, and August accidentally chopped Eli’s finger off. August, as usual, said nothing to the police.
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...doctor comes around the curtain. The doctor introduces herself as Caroline Brennan. She checks Eli’s finger and shocks him by saying she already knows his lost finger was special—it’s his pointer...
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In a letter to Alex, Eli apologizes for his handwriting—he just lost his finger, and Dr. Brennan wants him to practice writing. He says the food in the hospital...
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...favorite TV show, but he listens wide-eyed as Eli tells him how he lost his finger.
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Boy Meets Girl
Eli says he’s actually here to talk about Tytus Broz and how he lost his finger, but before he can say anything more, a fist bashes into the glass. Caitlyn curses...
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Boy Loses Balance
...Eli first started at school, a bully named Bobby Linyette teased Eli about his missing finger. In Eli’s third week, Bobby’s friends held Eli down as Bobby squirted tomato sauce in...
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...pain of seeing Mum in prison, something Eli hadn’t considered. Mrs. Birkbeck asks about Eli’s finger and then asks him about his writing. Eli tells her about writing true crime stories...
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Boy Tightens Noose
...piece, he lies back and writes Caitlyn Spies’s name in the air with his middle finger, thinking of the lucky pointer finger he lost to one of those upstanding community members.
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Boy Drowns Sea
...and clenched his fist. Eli says he’s fine, and Brian realizes Eli is missing a finger. He asks how he lost it. Eli doesn’t answer. A ghost took it.
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Boy Conquers Moon
...asks what questions Eli is going to ask him. Eli thinks he’ll ask about his finger and Lyle, but gives rote answers to the woman. He hangs up when Brian marches...
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...he looks different enough from his 13-year-old self. Tytus Broz will definitely notice the missing finger, and Iwan Krol will slice Eli up. It breaks Eli’s reverie when Caitlyn Spies stops...
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...Inside is a prosthetic hand that looks real. Somehow, it seems sinister—as though Eli’s missing finger somehow built it.
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...concrete bunker. Eli is so busy watching that he doesn’t notice Tytus noticing his missing finger until it’s too late.
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...with medical tools, and shelves holding smaller jars. Eli studies the labels—and finds his lucky finger. Caitlyn says they have to get out as Eli points her flashlight up. On the...
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...starts to strike nine, a deafening sound. Eli brings the specimen jar holding his lucky finger down on Iwan’s head. He doesn’t see if the officers shoot Iwan, he just sees...
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