The Duck Symbol Analysis

The rubber duck that Subhi steals from Harvey represents Subhi’s youth and need for support. When Subhi steals the duck from Harvey around the time that Maá starts sleeping all the time and Eli is moved to Alpha, the duck functions as a sort of imaginary friend to Subhi. The duck dispenses wisdom, tells jokes, tries to keep Subhi out of trouble, and even gives Subhi someone to argue with when Subhi needs to work through difficult choices. Of course, in all of these cases, Subhi is essentially talking to himself through the duck, highlighting his extreme need for support and companionship. However, the duck also allows readers to glimpse how mature Subhi is, despite his youth. For instance, several things the duck says are extremely cynical, such as that it’s a good thing Subhi doesn’t know any of his ba’s stories because by not knowing them, the stories can never come to an end. Subhi also demonstrates his maturity and his understanding when the duck lays out exactly what will happen to Harvey if Subhi tells someone about Beaver murdering Eli and Harvey doing nothing to stop it. Subhi might be old enough to understand the consequences of telling the truth, but he remains too young and immature to calmly have that “conversation” with the duck, and so he throws the duck as far as he can across the detention center. It’s significant that after throwing the duck, Subhi decides to tell the truth about Harvey, and Maá and Queeny both commit themselves to being more present and supportive of Subhi. So, though Subhi ultimately reclaims the duck, rescuing it from the Jackets’ dogs, who had begun to use it as a chew toy, Subhi ends the novel with a more robust support network, rendering the duck somewhat unnecessary.