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Chapter 1
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
Subhi knows the day is going to be “a killer” the moment he wakes up—already he can barely breathe, and he’s thirsty. He only has one half-empty water bottle left, and provisions won’t be delivered until tomorrow. As Queeny and the rest of the tent “grump” in front of the fan, Subhi thinks that “[d]ays like this only get worse.” Already he can feel his skin “creeping,” and everything is “too jangly and loud and scratchy.” He adds numbers in his head to distract himself and finally leaves the tent so he doesn’t start a fight with Queeny.
As much as Subhi seems to rely on fantastical things like the Night Sea to cope with difficult circumstances, some things seem to be too difficult for him to do this with. The extreme heat of this day is one such circumstance. This is, perhaps, because Subhi doesn’t have any amenities to make the heat more bearable—the fact that he only has a half of a water bottle to last until tomorrow speaks to the dire conditions at the camp.
Themes
Subhi’s angst disappears almost immediately when he hears Harvey honk his car horn. Harvey is a Jacket, but he’s not like the others. He learns all the “Limbo kids[’]” names and uses them instead of their ID numbers (Subhi’s number is DAR-1, since he was the first baby born here). Today, he’s starting his shift early, and he brought his tiny plastic pool. Once he’s through all the gates and checkpoints (the other Jackets don’t help him through any of them), Harvey immediately begins telling Subhi bad jokes. He then announces that since it’s supposed to be 48 degrees Celsius today, it’s a “hose day.” Subhi asks if the water will run out again, but Harvey shrugs and asks if Subhi doesn’t want to swim. Privately, Subhi wants toilets to flush and to shower tomorrow—but he desperately wants to leap into the pool.
The fact that Subhi was born here explains why Queeny knows what the ocean sounds like while Subhi doesn’t: Queeny has seen the ocean, while Subhi never has. That the guards refer to residents by ID numbers rather than their names underscores the dehumanizing treatment that residents receive in the camps. Further, Subhi frames it as unusual that Harvey learns kids’ names—he’s one of the only ones who seems to genuinely care for the people here, even as he actively participates in policing them. Interestingly, Harvey also seems somewhat ignorant to the difficulties people face in the camp, such as sometimes not having flushing toilets or water for a shower.
Themes
Harvey then points to a bag of full water bottles. Subhi drinks—but not so much that there isn’t enough to go around. Within moments, the pool is full of children. Harvey announces that he made the kids a sea, but Subhi has seen pictures of the sea in magazines and has heard Queeny talk about it. It’s nothing like this tiny pool under the “angry” sun. Sometimes, Subhi can smell the real sea. He always imagines wading into it.
The extra water bottles indicate that Harvey is well aware of supply shortages at the camp and tries to do what he can to help. However, it’s not enough: Subhi still can’t drink his fill, though Subhi’s restraint highlights how conscientious he is of others’ needs.
Themes
Harvey throws a few toys into the pool, including a rubber duck with a pointy beard and paper that says, “to quack or not to quack.” The duck seems to wink and greet Subhi, and Harvey says it’s a Shakespeare duck—Shakespeare wrote plays. Subhi asks what a play is, but Harvey is busy trying to convince the old folks sitting nearby that they should get out of the sun. They pretend they don’t speak English, and while Harvey is distracted, the duck tells Subhi that he’d rather live with Subhi than with Harvey. Harvey won’t notice or mind.
Subhi doesn’t know what a play is, having grown up in the detention center, and so the Shakespeare duck’s humor is totally lost on him. Still, the duck appears to Subhi as a possible imaginary friend of sorts. This highlights Subhi’s need for companionship and guidance, particularly as Queeny is mean and Maá is sleeping so often. It also underscores his youth and innocence.
Themes
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Just before lunch, after everyone gets out of the pool, Subhi sticks his whole head in the water. The earth stops spinning and even though Subhi warns the birds that are flying first, the world stopping so suddenly still makes those flying birds fall. He feels bad about this. Everything is quiet under the water, and Subhi’s brain stops. Then, when Subhi gets back to Family Three, there are a bunch of children standing still and silent. There’s a sparrow on Subhi’s pillow, staring at Subhi. It whistles and flies away. Pulling Subhi close, Queeny tells Subhi that a sparrow in the house is a sign of death.
Subhi again projects magic and wonder onto his world—but here, it’s not so delightful as the Night Sea, as it causes birds to fall from the sky. This may foreshadow that Subhi’s habit of looking at the world through a fantastical lens may have unintended negative consequences in the future. Then, when Queeny shares the visiting sparrow’s symbolism, it seems to confirm for Subhi that bad things are headed his way.
Themes
