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Chapter 26
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 tells himself that Jimmie will be back for her book, trying to ignore the part of him afraid that she won’t be able to come back. He sits down by the fence and flips through Jimmie’s mum’s book. Finally, he finds the rest of the story. As he reads it, his mind quiets. In the story, Anka saves her life and her baby’s life by cooking delicious food and singing a song so sad that it makes the soldiers weep. After days of this, the soldiers can’t take it anymore, and they free Anka and the other prisoners at a seaside town. They get her a job as a cook on a boat headed to another land. They don’t want to hear her singing anymore, and they hope she’ll be safe. Anka just hopes Oto will be able to follow her.
The story might not be able to provide comfort for Jimmie right now, but it still has the power to help Subhi calm down and find some peace. Within the story itself, Anka essentially forces the soldiers to develop compassion by making them feel emotions that aren’t conducive to being a soldier, such as sadness and grief. As her song makes them humanize her, they show her kindness the best way they can by helping her secure passage out of the war-torn country.
Themes
Oto, for his part, has been working and traveling for months, and he finally has enough money to travel to a peaceful country. As he boards the boat, he’s certain he’s leaving Anka forever by leaving his country—maybe the Bone Sparrow lost its magic when it lost its coin. But then, he hears a baby crying and Anka singing. He comes up behind Anka, embraces her, and kisses his wife and son.
Neither Oto nor Anka give up hope that they’ll be reunited, and Oto continues to believe in the Bone Sparrow until this point. Their unwillingness to give up, the story suggests, is a huge factor that helps them find each other and their happy ending.
Themes
Subhi knows that Jimmie has to hear how the story ends, and that it ends happily. She has to know that the Bone Sparrow is still lucky, as long as she believes in it. Then, he looks out and sees two flashes in the dark—Jimmie needs help. Seeing another flashlight from a Jacket, Subhi freezes. He can’t go. He races back for Family Three when suddenly, all the searchlights come on. Subhi has been caught outside, and Jimmie still needs him.
Subhi picks up immediately on the story’s message: that it’s essential to keep hoping. A kind and generous person, Subhi’s only concern is helping Jimmie and making sure she hears the book’s message. He doesn’t think to apply it to himself or his situation, which seems to be getting scarier by the minute.
Themes
