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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hoot, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Conservation and the Natural World
Bullying and Corruption
Morality, the Law, and Protest
Parenting and Support
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
When Roy comes downstairs after finishing his homework an hour later, he hears Mrs. Eberhardt telling Mr. Eberhardt that the school doesn’t want to discipline Dana because they’re afraid Dana’s parents will sue. Roy sneaks his bike out of the garage and rides to Beatrice’s bus stop. From there, he retraces his steps from last Friday and locks his bike up at the golf course. He finds the impenetrable mess of pines and pepper trees where the running boy disappeared and shoulders his way through the sharp branches. Roy slides into a shadowy ditch and notices bare footprints and a campfire. Continuing to search, Roy finds three garbage bags. Two contain trash and clean clothes. The third, Roy realizes after dumping it out, is full of venomous cottonmouth moccasins. Strangely, the tips of their tails are painted a glittery blue. A voice behind Roy tells him not to move.
The revelation that the school doesn’t want to punish Dana for fear of a lawsuit shows that there’s small-scale corruption taking place: the Mathersons are using their monetary clout to make it so Dana can be cruel without suffering consequences. For now, though, Roy isn’t as interested in that as he is in figuring out who the running boy is. It’s a sign of how trusting Roy is that he seems to see no problem with rifling through the boy’s bags, though the snakes put a damper on his searching. That the snakes’ tails are painted is an intriguing detail, and it suggests that the running boy (or whoever’s camp this is) is pretty familiar with and comfortable handling dangerous snakes.
Themes
Once, when Roy was on a hiking field trip back in Montana, he decided to sneak away from the class, hike over the hill on his own, and reach the campsite before anyone else. However, Roy was too quiet and came upon a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs about 100 feet away in a clearing. Roy stood still as the mother bear growled, coughed, and faked lunges at him. Eventually, the bear decided Roy wasn’t a threat and wandered off, but Roy stood totally still for two hours and 22 minutes. A teacher finally rescued him. Roy stands just as still now and protests when the voice tells him to step back on the count of three. But a hand snatches Roy backwards and just as Roy lands on his bottom, a hood covers his head and the person—the running boy—ties Roy’s wrists together.
Fortunately for Roy, he has some experience with deadly wild animals and knows that standing still like this is his best bet at survival. Flashing back to Montana like this, though, also speaks to how much Roy misses his last home and helps explain why he’s having a hard time still integrating in Coconut Cove. The running boy also begins to seem a bit dangerous, given his clear comfort with wild animals and the fact that he ties Roy up. It seems that this boy is someone who’s more comfortable in nature and less comfortable chatting calmly with Roy.
Themes
Trying to disguise his voice, the running boy asks who Roy is and why he’s here. The boy insists that Roy didn’t see him running from the bus. Then, he pulls Roy up and says they’ll go out the back way—and he compliments Roy for not peeing his pants at the sight of the snakes. Roy asks if the snakes are cottonmouths, and the boy seems happy Roy recognizes the species. The boy just says the snakes have sparkly tails because they’re “goin’ to a party” and marches Roy forward.
The running boy doesn’t act like he’d like to really get to know Roy at all. But they do have something in common: they both seem knowledgeable about the snakes, what species they are, and the dangers they pose. The boy saying that the snakes are headed for a “party” is interesting, particularly since Delinko found alligators at the construction site—the running boy may have something to do with that.
Themes
Eventually, the air gets warmer and the boy starts to untie Roy. With prodding, the boy says people call him Mullet Fingers, but he refuses to say if he really lives out here on his own. Mullet Fingers threatens to put a cottonmouth in Roy’s bed if he turns around and peeks before he counts to 50. When Roy gets to 50 and pulls the hood off his head, he’s alone. He races for his bike, excited rather than frightened.
Roy is nothing if not honest: he’s extremely curious about the running boy and the snakes, of course, but he also sees no reason to push his luck here and peek before counting to 50. This is also why Roy is excited instead of frightened, since he trusts the running boy to stay true to his word.
Themes
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