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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Diamond Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Manhood and Growing Up
Family and Friendship
Corruption and Violence in Zimbabwe
Identity and Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
Patson sits at the Beitbridge Border Post, watching a boy effortlessly bounce a soccer ball between his knees, head, and feet. Patson hates the boy and his “wholeness.” A surge of pain rushes through Stumpy—Patson’s amputated leg—and Patson gasps. As Boubacar won’t let Patson use marijuana until darkness, Patson pulls out his journal to write. It’s April 12. He describes all the people congregating at the border, trying to get into South Africa to freedom. Boubacar has warned Patson that they’ll have to pay people every step of the way as they cross the border. Patson laments his missing girazis, but he’s more upset about Grace. She’s gone to South Africa with Determine, and Patson blames himself for trusting the Banda family and Determine to care for her.
Losing a limb is a major life event, and it’s one that Patson had no control over. This puts him in a position where he must come of age by learning how to face these difficult, adult challenges. The fact that Patson has named his limb Stumpy also points to his youth: he’s trying to make sense of what’s happened to him. Still, Patson remains focused on his family, as Grace is now missing. And the fact that Boubacar is currently helping Patson navigate things points to Patson’s expanding view of who constitutes family.
Themes
Unable to write more, Patson checks his phone. Grace hasn’t texted, and Patson wishes he’d made different choices the night he visited Grace in the sheds. Patson has been sitting by himself for an hour, waiting for Boubacar while he tries to get Patson emergency travel papers. The border, however, is closed. Patson takes off his homemade prosthesis to massage salve onto Stumpy, watching as boys line up to pick teams for a soccer game. Patson is heartbroken: the boys would just stare at Stumpy, and nobody would choose him. But then, Patson remember Arves’s advice that “sympathy can be useful.” Knowing Arves would play soccer if he were here, Patson hauls himself up and into line. He motions for a boy to throw the ball at him, and Patson kicks it.
As Patson watches the boys prepare to play soccer, readers get insight into his thought process. Initially, Patson allows Stumpy to dictate his actions: he reasons that nobody will want to play with him, and he believes Stumpy will make it impossible to play. But Patson then calls on his relationship with Arves to help himself overcome this initial pessimism, remembering how Arves would often use his HIV-positive status to his advantage. Patson realizes that he can do the same—he doesn’t have to let Stumpy rule his life.
Themes
A captain, Deo, chooses Patson and lets him play goalie. At first, Patson struggles, but he feels more alive than he has in a long time. Deo fouls another boy, and the boy gets a penalty kick. Patson spreads out his crutches, struggling to balance on one leg—and he saves the ball. His teammates promptly score a goal, and onlookers praise Patson. The boys play for hours. Patson ignores the pain in Stumpy, thrilled to be playing normally with new friends. Slowly, boys return to their families until Patson is the last left. Patson finds Boubacar holding his bag and scowling: Commander Jesus is in town, looking for Patson.
This is a transformative experience for Patson, as he discovers that he’s capable of much more than he thought he was. It’s also notable because for a few hours, Patson is allowed to simply be a child, with no worries beyond keeping the ball out of the goal. His childhood has, in many ways, been robbed from him during his time in the mines, so this is a cathartic experience.
Themes
