Unity, Support, and Hope Theme Analysis

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 willing to guide and support him. As a result, it is his friendship with Turner that emotionally sustains him, even if this sustenance is subtle and small in the face of Nickel Academy’s all-consuming terror. And though the rest of the Nickel Boys don’t always do much to help one another withstand the school’s bigotry and aggression, the mere idea of silent camaraderie helps buoy Elwood and gives him the courage to fight for a better reality—a fact that illustrates the fortifying powers of unity and companionship.

Before attending Nickel Academy, Elwood’s primary difficulties have to do with racism and segregation. Thankfully, he manages to find people who encourage him to advocate for and believe in himself. For instance, his new history teacher, Mr. Hill, tells him and the other students at the beginning of the year to go through their textbooks and erase the racial slurs that white students have graffitied into the margins. Mr. Hill is an activist who tells Elwood about the Civil Rights Movement, and when Elwood sees him at a protest in front of a movie theater, Mr. Hill invites him to stand with him, making him feel suddenly less alone. This simple action helps Elwood see the point of standing up against injustice as a unified group, feeling as if he’s fighting not just for himself, but for everyone in the United States. “My struggle is your struggle,” he thinks, “your burden is my burden.” The fact that Elwood draws this message of unification and camaraderie from Mr. Hill’s acceptance is worth noting, since it underlines just how inspiring it is for disenfranchised young people to find compassion, support, and guidance.

Of course, Mr. Hill’s support means little after Elwood is sent to Nickel Academy, having been falsely accused of stealing a car. Worse, there are no positive role models at Nickel, where the educators are apathetic and the staff is unspeakably abusive. It’s not long before Spencer—the school’s vicious superintendent—whips Elwood’s legs to shreds, forcing him to spend many days in the infirmary. As he waits for his legs to heal, Elwood talks to Turner, who’s also in the infirmary. Elwood insists that they should stick up for themselves, but Turner dismisses this idea, saying that such efforts are even more ineffective at Nickel than they are in the outside world. It’s worth noting the stark contrast between Mr. Hill’s optimism and Turner’s cynicism regarding social justice and change. Whereas Mr. Hill makes Elwood feel as if he and his comrades are capable of realizing their human rights, Turner insists that racist authorities make it impossible for people like him or Elwood to fight injustice. In response, Elwood says that Turner only thinks this in this cynical manner because he doesn’t have anybody supporting him in the outside world, and Turner agrees that this assessment is accurate. This idea suggests that isolation and a lack of support leads to hopelessness, a point Turner admits is true. At the same time, though, Turner says that just because he’s cynical doesn’t mean he can’t recognize the way the world really works.

Because Nickel is a violent environment, the students are forced to put their own safety first. In fact, the only reason Elwood got whipped in the first place is because he tried to save a younger boy from two bullies—an attempt that only resulted in his own punishment. This is Turner’s second stay at Nickel, so he has learned to look out only for himself. In turn, he advocates for a fierce kind of individualism, telling Elwood, “Nobody else is going to get you out—just you.” This notion stands in stark contrast to Mr. Hill’s message of collective social advocacy and the compassion of the Civil Rights Movement. And yet, the idea also addresses an unfortunate truth: Elwood will be safest if he keeps to himself.

Despite Turner’s insistence that it’s best to operate alone at Nickel, he develops a strong friendship with Elwood, a bond that eventually convinces him to take a stand against his oppressors. When the boys hear that the government will be visiting the school for an inspection, Elwood writes a letter outlining the institution’s acts of violence and abusive policies. At first, Turner refuses to take part in Elwood’s plan to deliver the letter to one of the inspectors, but when Elwood’s chance to hand it to one of the white men disappears, Turner takes the letter from his friend and promises to deliver it himself. Then, when Spencer discovers this and puts Elwood in solitary confinement, Turner busts him out in the middle of the night, helping him run away even though he previously swore he would never take anyone with him on an escape. As they run off campus, Elwood asks why Turner’s breaking his own rule, and Turner says, “You’re dumb, and I’m stupid,” acknowledging that, although he knows it’s risky for two students to escape at once, he’s no longer willing to operate as the staunch individualist Nickel has forced him to be. Instead, he stands with his friend, yet another indication that camaraderie and support lead to a sense of hope, since Turner is finally doing something to fight the injustice keeping him down. It is this gravitation toward camaraderie that later bonds an entire generation of former Nickel Boys, who create online support groups and work together to make sure the rest of the country hears about the terrible things that took place at Nickel Academy. In this sense, then, unity continues to be a source of resistance, one that brings people together and inspires them to think optimistically about their ability to address injustice.