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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Nickel Boys, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Repression
Unity, Support, and Hope
History, Secrecy, and Racism
Civil Rights, Dignity, and Sacrifice
Power, Fear, and Upward Mobility
Summary
Analysis
The Florida state attorney’s office has recently closed an investigation into abuse allegations surrounding Nickel Academy, an old reform school in a town called Eleanor. Nickel Academy has officially closed, and now a real estate company plans to install an office park on its former grounds, but first it has to wait for an environmental survey of the land to wrap up. However, the company’s plans to start construction are delayed when an archaeology class from the University of Southern Florida finds Nickel’s “secret graveyard,” where the bodies of unknown students have been buried for decades. Now, the state attorney’s office has to look into the abuse allegations again to find out who, exactly, has been buried. This is a process that will only delay them from “eras[ing]” Nickel Academy from history.
From the very beginning of The Nickel Boys, Whitehead spotlights how eager the government is to ignore and “erase” ugly portions of history. Although readers don’t yet know what kind of travesties took pace at Nickel Academy, the existence of abuse stories suggests that it was a violent place. All the same, the state has apparently decided to turn a blind eye to these stories. Now, though, the unearthing of a “secret graveyard” makes this impossible, and the government is forced to examine what, exactly, happened to the many bodies found hidden in the dirt.
Themes
The Nickel alumni, known as The Nickel Boys, have known about the secret graveyard for quite some time, but nobody has believed them until now. There is also an official cemetery at the school called Boot Hill, where—although the records are spotty—the archaeology team is able to identify 36 of the 43 dead bodies, correlating them to living relatives and effectively reestablishing their connection to the world.
The fact that nobody believes in the existence of a secret graveyard until the archaeology team digs it up illustrates just how difficult it is for people who have been abused and neglected in society to speak up for themselves, especially when those people are also from a marginalized racial group. The Nickel Boys have known about this graveyard for a long time, but the general public only pays attention when an archaeology class finds it. This, it seems, is why it has been so hard to spread the news of Nickel Academy’s terrible history. After all, nobody has been paying attention to the many stories coming out of Nickel—stories that former students have been telling for years.
Themes
Once news of the secret graveyard reaches the general public, the nation finally starts paying attention to the travesties that took place at Nickel Academy, which has been closed for only three years. Pictures of the reform school seem haunted and sinister, as if each mark on the wall is made of blood and gore. Recently, some Nickel Boys have created websites where survivors of the school can tell their stories. In this capacity, the men discuss the sexual and physical abuse they endured, feeling as if they have a painful history in common while also noting that connecting over their experiences makes them feel less alone.
Whitehead emphasizes the fortifying power of communal support, something the former Nickel Boys only find in adulthood. Coming together for the first time to talk about their experiences at the school, they see that they have a shared sense of trauma. This, in turn, helps them cope with their difficult memories, feeling as if they aren’t alone anymore. It’s worth noting here that these restorative conversations could not have happened if the stories surrounding Nickel had remained in the shadows.
Themes
One Nickel Boy creates and runs a website where he posts stories and pictures sent to him by other survivors. For many of the former students, sending this website address to family members helps them both explain and apologize for why they are the way they are, making it easier for them to show loved ones their painful (and formative) histories. Other Nickel Boys arrange a yearly trip to the school, paying the grounds a visit and talking about what happened. Sometimes the men who make this trip feel brave enough to stare their trauma in the face, and sometimes they don’t. It all depends on how much emotional strength they’ve stored up for the journey.
Again, Whitehead underlines the therapeutic aspect of unity and communal support. The Nickel Boy who created the community website has effectively given his peers a resource that can help them explain their complicated pasts to their loved ones. When Whitehead suggests that sharing a link to this website helps men both explain and apologize for their pasts, he addresses the fact that the trauma the Nickel Boys experienced has shaped their entire lives, profoundly affecting their closest relationships even all these years later. By confronting these memories head-on, the former students can finally address their painful experiences, though it’s also worth noting that this is often too much to bear.
Themes
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One Nickel Boy who goes by Elwood Curtis lives in New York City. He sometimes reads about his fellow alumni but never participates in the annual expedition to Nickel, wondering how he could possibly benefit from standing around and crying with other survivors. He reads a story on the Nickel Boys website about a man who drove to Superintendent Spencer’s house with the intention of beating him with a leather strap. When the man reached Spencer’s house, though, he couldn’t get himself to go inside. This doesn’t make sense to Elwood, who thinks that the man should have followed through with his plan after going to so much trouble. Despite his unwillingness to participate in the reunions, though, Elwood knows he has to return when the archaeology class finds the secret graveyard. Seeing it there on the television, he realizes he’s never truly escaped Nickel.
Elwood’s hesitance to participate in the community his former classmates have built suggests that he can’t bring himself to confront his trauma. When he wonders what the point is of reminiscing with other Nickel Boys, readers see his skepticism regarding the benefits of communal support. At the same time, though, his decision to finally return to Nickel when he sees the secret graveyard on television indicates that he hasn’t been as successful as he’d like in repressing his memories. In keeping with this, he realizes that these traumatic are still quite immediate—an idea that frames the very act of repression as a futile and ineffective way of dealing with emotional turmoil.
Themes
