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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Bone Sparrow, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dehumanization, Invisibility, and Refugee Camps
Childhood
Family and Friendship
Storytelling, Escapism, and Hope
Summary
Analysis
The story begins by introducing Anka, who was “born from an egg.” Subhi stops—Queeny would hate this story for being “stupid” and fantastical. But Jimmie just explains that Anka was her great-great-great-grandmother and tells Subhi to keep going. Back in the story, Anka appears one day, halfway down a well in a nest. Guntis, the oldest man (but not the wisest man) in town, spits that they should leave “it” there. But his sister, Mirka—who’s old and wise—tells the townsfolk to get the baby out. Oto, a six-year-old boy, rescues the baby. He loves her immediately and vows to protect her. He’s the one who names her. Guntis and Mirka immediately know that these two children are destined to experience hardship. But Guntis just spits tobacco and observes that Anka is blind. Mirta says that despite her blindness, Anka will “see more than most.”
The story in the book mixes fantasy with what seems like historical fact, since Anka is Jimmie’s great-great-great-grandmother. In this sense, it’s a lot like Subhi’s Night Sea. Subhi likes the story because he recognizes the value in fantasy: it’s an escape and a coping mechanism. Queeny is older, and she’s already given up on fantasy as a way out of her horrific lived experience.
Themes
The story abruptly ends here; the next page is just a list of the top 10 places to visit before you die. Jimmie is crying as she looks at the Bone Sparrow. Subhi asks if he should keep going, but Jimmie says it’ll be better to save the stories so they last longer. She thanks him, takes the book, and disappears.
The book is clearly a notebook where Jimmie’s mum recorded all manner of things, not just Anka’s story. Jimmie wants to wait to hear more because hearing the story makes her feel connected to her mum, something she hasn’t felt in three years.
Themes
