Civil Rights, Dignity, and Sacrifice Theme Analysis

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 of self-worth helps Elwood cultivate an image of himself as a hard worker with a strong moral compass—a moral compass that sometimes puts him at odds others. This is all well and good when he’s a top student working in Mr. Marconi's shop, but his convictions become harder to uphold when he’s sent to Nickel Academy after a wrongful arrest, where standing up for himself and his fellow classmates puts him in real danger. Nevertheless, Elwood maintains his resolve, eventually writing a letter about Nickel’s abusive practices and attempting to deliver it to white government inspectors. This is an act of pure bravery, and though it ultimately leads to Elwood’s death, Whitehead suggests that certain sacrifices are worth making, even if they’re doomed for failure.

Elwood learns the importance of cultivating a sense of self-worth by listening to a recording of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at the Zion Hill Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1962. One of the most important ideas that he draws from Dr. King’s words is that African Americans should stand proud in the face of racism. “We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness,” Dr. King asserts. This particular idea resonates with Elwood because it gives him an impetus to believe in himself, something that the racist environment in which he exists actively discourages. Armed with this message, he develops the wherewithal to advocate for himself. “There are big forces that want to keep the Negro down, like Jim Crow, and there are small forces that want to keep you down, like other people, and in the face of all those things, the big ones and the smaller ones, you have to stand up straight and maintain your sense of who you are,” he realizes. Consequently, he cultivates a “sense of dignity” that helps him believe not only in himself, but also in the value of resisting bigotry.

Elwood’s newfound dignity helps him establish strong morals, some of which get him into trouble. When he sees two black boys stealing from Mr. Marconi's store, for example, he decides that they deserve to be caught. Mr. Marconi knows that children steal from his shop and has decided it’s best to do nothing, but Elwood can’t accept this. Accordingly, he says, “Put it back,” when he sees two boys from his neighborhood shoplifting—a decision that earns him a thorough beating on his way home that night. Nevertheless, he stands by his decision to call them out because he feels morally obligated to do so. After all, he sees the boys’ misbehavior as a personal insult, something that makes both the shoplifters and himself look bad. Acting on his sense of self-respect and dignity, then, Elwood speaks up because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. To him, doing the right thing takes precedence over all else, even when there are negative consequences.

It’s relatively easy for Elwood to honor his convictions when he’s facing little more than a neighborhood beating. At Nickel Academy, though, the stakes are much higher. This is why Turner initially rejects Elwood’s idea to slip a note about the institution’s injustice to a group of government inspectors. He tells Elwood to forget the idea, saying that his friend should simply focus on getting through Nickel unharmed. Nonetheless, Elwood disagrees, telling his friend that it’s important to “walk with your head up no matter what they throw at you.” Although Turner at first refuses to participate, he eventually helps Elwood go through with his plan to deliver the letter. That night, administrators take Elwood from his bed and beat him before placing him into solitary confinement. Shortly thereafter, Turner hears that Spencer and his employees are going to kill Elwood, so Turner helps him escape. However, the Nickel employees catch up to them and shoot Elwood, killing him in a field while Turner gets away. Decades later, Turner bemoans his decision to help Elwood act on his convictions, wishing that he hadn’t taken part in Elwood’s plan to speak out against Nickel Academy’s injustice. After all, he can’t ignore the fact that, although he saved his friend from getting beaten to death, Elwood still died because of his refusal to submit to his oppressors.

Turner is retrospectively cynical about the efficacy of standing up for one’s own convictions, seeing Elwood’s dignity as the very thing that got him killed. But even though The Nickel Boys outlines the grim fact that doing what’s right often means making great sacrifices, Whitehead also hints that these sacrifices are worthwhile. To understand this, it’s worth considering the following: As a boy, Elwood used to look into the dining room of the hotel his grandmother worked in, and he would fantasize about someday seeing a black man sitting at one of the tables—an idea that seemed nearly impossible at the time. In the novel’s final scene, Turner visits this very restaurant and unknowingly fulfills Elwood’s dream, a turn of events that suggests that even though racism is still very much alive, the sacrifices people made during and after the Civil Rights Movement have indeed made a difference to society.