Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Beautiful Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Addiction, Ruin, and Redemption
Responsibility and Blame
Parenthood and Control
Support vs. Enabling
The Disease Model, Stigma, and Treatment
Summary
Analysis
Nic’s private high school is more akin to a college—in addition to the basics of math, science, and language, it has courses in journalism, justice, religion, and politics. The teachers are devoted, and Nic quickly becomes engaged. Within the first month, he is playing on the freshman basketball team and has a role in the school play. He also gains new friends, who seem to David like good kids.
At each new juncture of Nic’s life, he quickly becomes engaged and excels. In this way, David continues to highlight the success that Nic might have found if he had not fallen victim to addiction.
Themes
The school year goes by quickly. Nic makes time for Daisy and Jasper between his work, sports, and plays. His report cards are glowing. Then, on an afternoon in May, the freshman dean calls to tell David that he and Karen must come in for a meeting, to discuss Nic’s suspension for buying marijuana on campus—which Nic hadn’t told them about.
This is another warning sign for David about both Nic’s continued drug use and his continued deceit. The fact that David did not know about Nic’s suspension only highlights his feelings of losing control of Nic’s choices.
Themes
David starts to rationalize Nic’s behavior, saying that he is simply experimenting. Nic is not a “typical druggie.” David thinks back to his own drug use: he and friends would get stoned and hang out in the street, listening to music. Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison all died from overdoses, but these tragedies did not slow David and his friends down. They believed the stars’ deaths did not apply to them, and they felt that the public service announcements and warnings were simply ways that parents sought to control their children. One night in high school, David tried LSD, tripping as he watched a movie with his parents.
David’s thoughts here illustrate how even he viewed his own parents as trying to exercise too much control over him. This causes him to be lenient and to rationalize Nic’s behavior—something for which he eventually blames himself when Nic’s drug use escalates past experimentation. Additionally, David’s belief that Nic is not a “typical druggie” illustrates that even he buys into the stereotype of what a “typical” drug user looks like. Ultimately, however, David realizes that anyone can fall victim to addiction.
Themes
David and Karen meet with the dean and a school counselor. They say that the boy who sold Nic the pot has been expelled, but Nic will get a second chance—he will be on probation. The dean also says that Nic must attend an afternoon of drug and alcohol counseling. The counselor says that they want to help Nic make better choices, and they view this as an opportunity to learn from a mistake. David and Karen think that this is reasonable.
This is one of the first instances of the way in which support from outsiders makes a large difference in Nic’s battle. If the teachers had simply written him off, he might have slid more easily into addiction. With the help of the school, however, Nice seems to be getting back on track—for the time being.
Themes
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The dean also suggests an advisor for Nic named Don, one of the school’s science teachers. Don also loves surfing, and he is very passionate about his students. He is the school’s swimming and water polo coach. Nic is very excited about Don—the two of them even go surfing together. In the fall, when Nic returns to school, he joins the swim team on Don’s suggestion and then also joins the water polo team after the swim season is over.
Don is a key figure during Nic’s high school experience, and he’s an early example of how support can be critical in setting people on a better path. Getting involved in the swim and water polo teams gives Nic a positive activity to get involved in, which prevents him from spending time with potentially corruptive friends.
Themes
Don also encourages Nic’s interest in marine biology. At the end of Nic’s sophomore year, he applies for and is accepted into a marine biology program at the University of California at San Diego. When Nic calls from the program, he is very excited—even saying that he may want to be a marine biologist. When the program is over, he joins Vicki in LA.
Don again proves his impact as a role model for Nic by setting him up for success over the summer. Don’s encouragement affirms Nic’s activities and motivates him to do well in the program.
Themes
Nic’s junior year is his strongest in school yet: he is engaged in politics, the environment, and social issues. He loves his classes, especially writing, and he writes a column for the school newspaper. Encouraged by his journalism teacher, Nic submits his writing to the Earnest Hemingway Writing Award for high school journalists and wins first place. Nic continues to write, submitting a column to the “My Turn” section of Newsweek—an indictment of long-distance joint custody.
Nic’s promise is on display yet again. This also illustrates that even when he missteps (like buying marijuana), he always retains the ability to set himself on a better path and succeed once more. This underlying optimism and perseverance becomes crucial as he wrestles with drug addiction over the next decade.
Themes
Nic’s taste in books and movies evolves. His favorites are “an assortment of misanthropes, addicts, drunks, depressives, and suicides”: Burroughs, Kerouac, Kafka, Capote, Miller, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. During Nic’s spring break, David and Nic set off on a tour of colleges in the Midwest and on the East Coast.
The fact that Nic might look up to those with substance abuse problems is another source of blame for David, as he worries that this glorified drug use rather than warning against it.
Themes
Nic has an aptitude for French, and he decides to attend a summer program in Paris to study the language at the American University there. When he calls from France, he says that he’s having a great time—even landing a part in a student film. But when he returns home, David notices that he looks “terrible,” with shaggy and unkempt hair and circles under his eyes. When he asks what’s wrong, Nic simply says that he is fine, flaring up when David questions him further.
Yet again, despite the fact that Nic is excelling in school, his choices can return him to the path to ruin. Visibly unkempt when returning from Paris, readers can infer that that Nic may have been doing drugs while he was there. The fact that drugs are so consistently alluring for Nic hints at the fact that his addiction will be a lifelong condition.
Themes
Within days, Nic complains about stomach pain, and David makes an appointment with his doctor. The examination takes an hour. When David meets with the doctor, he can sense that the doctor has more to say, but the doctor simply tells him that Nic has an ulcer. David is shocked, wondering how Nic could have an ulcer at 17.
Again, although Nic claims to be fine, it’s an enormous red flag that he has a mysterious ulcer at the age of 17. Readers can infer that this ailment is likely the result of Nic drinking heavily while he was in Paris. This early indication of Nic’s substance abuse problem illustrates just how quickly he is succumbing to addiction. It also highlights David’s lack of control over Nic, in being both unable to prevent Nic from damaging his body and unable to even discern exactly what he is doing to himself.
Themes
