Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Deadly, Unna?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race, Injustice, and Action
Courage and Masculinity
Duty and Sacrifice
Teamwork and Family
Summary
Analysis
Blacky wakes up in the dark to find Team-man getting undressed for bed. Blacky can tell that his brother’s been crying and sees blood on his mouth. Team-man says that their father wouldn’t stop looking for the ledge where they previously caught all those fish. Eventually, the old man passed out from drinking too much and Team-man had to steer the boat. When the old man woke up, he threw Team-man out of the wheelhouse, injuring his lip.
Team-man defies society’s masculine expectations by crying, but he can only do so within the privacy of his dark room. Their father remains violent and erratic, showing once and for all that there is no hope of Blacky earning his approval, as it briefly appeared he would be able to after the football team one the grand final.
Themes
The old man wanted to continue fishing but they were running out of fuel. He started ranting about how their bad luck was all Blacky’s fault because he didn’t go out fishing with them and didn’t prove he wasn’t a coward. Team-man swears to Blacky that he’ll never go fishing with their father again. Blacky hears crashing coming from the kitchen and hides in his bed until he falls asleep.
Blacky’s fear and his father’s anger increase the tension of the final chapters of the novel, as Blacky must defy him in order to paint over the racist graffiti. However, his father’s behavior here also frees Blacky from his previous desire to please him.
Themes
