The Nickel Boys Themes

In The Nickel Boys, a novel about racism and violence at a Florida reform school, Colson Whitehead draws attention to the fact that escaping physical trauma doesn’t necessarily end a person’s suffering. For instance, Turner—who in his adulthood goes by the name Elwood—is unable to put his past behind him, no matter how hard he tries to repress his memories about his time at Nickel, a school where ruthless disciplinarians beat young…

In The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead emphasizes the capacity of friendship and interpersonal support to sustain people facing adversity and oppression. intense hardship. The power of this kind of compassion becomes evident early in the novel, when Elwood receives encouragement from people like Mr. Marconi (his white employer) and Mr. Hill (his high school teacher). When he’s wrongfully arrested and sent to Nickel Academy, though, Elwood no longer has access to adult role models…

The Nickel Boys is not an emotionally uplifting novel, but it does demonstrate that it’s possible for a person to maintain a sense of self-worth even in times of hardship. Elwood especially embodies this gravitation toward dignity, which he learns from the Civil Rights Movement. He adopts Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s belief that African Americans ought to believe in themselves and, in turn, believe that their rights are worth fighting for. This sense…

In many ways, The Nickel Boys looks at how people in positions of power often use fear to subjugate others. For example, Elwood encounters this dynamic when he arrives at Nickel Academy and learns that even the slightest infraction will get him beaten senseless. This gives him a reason to do whatever his superiors tell him to do, especially since his first visit to a building called the White House—where Spencer whips the students—leaves him…