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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Maniac Magee, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Myth, Reality, and Heroism
Racism
Love, Loss, and Home
Human Dignity, Connection, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Everybody knows that Jeffrey wound up in Two Mills, but nobody knows why it took him a year to cover the 200-mile distance from Hollidaysburg. Everyone just calls it The Lost Year. Nobody knows why he stayed in Two Mills, either. Maybe it’s because his hometown, Bridgeport, is right across the Schuylkill River. But some people say that he just got tired of running, or was simply happy to make a friend.
Jeffrey eventually crosses much of Pennsylvania, ending up in the greater Philadelphia suburbs, where he was born. His “Lost Year” adds to the sense of myth surrounding Jeffrey—it’s not very likely that a kid would succeed in running away and surviving on his own in secret—yet the important thing is that Jeffrey winds up in Two Mills.
Themes
Nowadays, lots of people claim to have seen Jeffrey Magee the day he first arrived. The truth is that only a handful of people did, and all they saw was a “scraggly” boy whose sneaker soles flopped open with every step he took. What people remember most, however, is that he said “Hi” to them as he passed, causing them to pause and wonder. People didn’t normally greet strangers like that.
Jeffrey isn’t anything extraordinary on the surface. Yet his simple greeting suggests that he’s kinder and more open to other people than the average person in Two Mills. It sets the tone for the rest of the story, where a simple gesture often has a much greater impact than a heroic act.
Themes
