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Chapter 27
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 is transfixed as he watches Commander Jesus, who looks like a ghuma-ghuma except for his army boots and rifle. The ghuma-ghuma head for another group emerging from the river, so Lennox whispers that they need to go. Patson panics. Boubacar picks Patson up and tries to soothe him as they reach a tall fence. Lennox explains that they must run for two hours through the game reserve. He leads them through a spot in the fence and says that they will run, holding hands, and can’t stop, no matter what they see. Lennox warns them about the animals in here, specifically the lions. But Patson knows that the “real danger” is following behind.
The dangerous border crossing doesn’t end at the border—now, the refugees must continue through a game reserve filled with wild animals. Still, Patson can’t shake his belief that he’s never going to escape the violence and danger of Zimbabwe itself, no matter how far he runs from the Limpopo river. This again points to his helplessness, as well as to the cruelty of Commander Jesus—Jesus is pursuing a traumatized child, not a hardened criminal.
Themes
Lennox leads his group for a while before suddenly signaling to drop to the ground. Innocent remarks that he’s tired. One man spots a hyena—and Lennox realizes the man is bleeding. Binding the man’s wound, Lennox tells everyone to carry their bags in the air to frighten the hyenas. When Lennox falls, Innocent frightens the hyenas with a whistle in his Bix-box, and Lennox ties the man’s bleeding shirt to a thorn tree. The group continues on, pausing at a river to drink and trying to ignore human bones on the bank.
Lennox’s group forms its own chosen and supportive family as they cross the game reserve. Lennox saved Innocent while crossing the river, and now, Innocent repays the favor by saving Lennox from the hyena.
Themes
By now it’s midday, and Boubacar is tiring. Patson insists on getting down, and the two strange men in the group insist they leave Patson behind. Lennox refuses. Mentally, Patson tells his father that he’s lost control of his life. He feels so ashamed, and he deliriously asks “Daddy” to leave him. But Innocent and Deo help Boubacar keep going. Patson can hear his father’s voice in his head telling him to be strong. Finally, they reach the fence—and they can hear lions feeding nearby. Lennox slowly leads the group past, and then they run the rest of the way. The two men sprint ahead and get shocked on the fence when they try to climb it. Lennox shows them where to climb through, and then he says someone will come to pick them up. The two men run off, and Deo thanks Lennox before Lennox heads back into the park.
Patson is struggling with panic, as well as likely physical symptoms from his leg. But in this moment of extreme weakness, Patson has two father figures to help him: his father and Boubacar. As such, it’s impossible to tell who Patson is speaking to when he tells “Daddy” to leave him, as in many ways, Boubacar has taken on this paternal role. In addition to Boubacar, though, Patson also receives help from Innocent, Deo, and Lennox, showing how his chosen family continues to expand and work to protect him.
Themes
Deo and Innocent fall asleep. Boubacar explains that Commander Jesus will expect to find them in Musina, so he’s going to call some friends to see if they can help get them past the checkpoint. Patson checks his texts. He finds one from Grace telling him that she and Determine are heading for Johannesburg. She’s trying to escape and doesn’t know what to do. Boubacar asks Patson to tell her to share her address when they reach Johannesburg. Then, Boubacar tells Patson to rest. Patson notices that the sky here looks no different than it did in Zimbabwe as he falls asleep. Boubacar shakes him awake later as a white man in a truck drives up, telling everyone to get in if they want work. Patson is feverish, and Stumpy is bleeding.
As Grace continues to recognize that Determine is bad news and that she’s in danger, she comes of age in her own way. Like Patson, she’s also learning to rely on people outside her family—namely Boubacar—to protect her. When Patson observes that the South African sky looks exactly the same as the one in Zimbabwe, he subtly acknowledges that he likely isn’t going to be able to escape Zimbabwe’s corruption or violence just by leaving the country.
Themes
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On April 16, at Flying Tomato Farm, Patson writes about the night he met Boubacar for the first time. He thought Boubacar was ugly and scary, but Boubacar has saved Patson and his family many times over. Now, he’s helping Patson find Grace. Boubacar isn’t ugly to Patson anymore; he’s kind and courageous. Patson just doesn’t understand why Boubacar is helping him.
Boubacar has established himself as a father figure to Patson and Grace through his actions, supporting once again the novel’s insistence that anyone can become family if they show unconditional love and support to someone.
Themes
