Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Ghost, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Running and Trauma
Poverty
Friendship
Arrogance and Humility
Summary
Analysis
At first, Ghost feels like his half-day suspension is going pretty great. He is having a fun time with Coach Brody, as he gets the hang of track. Before the real running starts, Ghost and Coach Brody debate the best basketball player of all time. Ghost believes it is Lebron James, while Coach Brody thinks it is Michael Jordan. Ghost tells Coach Brody that Michael Jordan is just an old man who cannot stack up to Lebron James’s two championship rings. However, he is quickly humbled when Coach Brody tells him that Jordan has six championships. Ghost wonders if that is the Guinness world record.
Although Coach Brody is an authority figure, here he feels more like a friend than anything else. This section also highlights Ghost’s undeserved arrogance when it comes to basketball, which he claims is his favorite sport. He does not seem to know much about Michael Jordan—arguably the sport’s greatest player—nor does he know which players have the most championships, an odd omission given Ghost’s supposed interest in greatness and in basketball.
Themes
Their conversation transitions to a discussion of Usain Bolt, who ran a 100-meter sprint in nine seconds and 58 milliseconds. When Coach Brody tells Ghost Bolt’s time, Ghost doesn’t think it sounds all that fast and says he thinks he could beat it. His words bring a wry smile to Coach Brody’s face, and he tells Ghost to get on the starting line. Then, he makes Ghost run the 100-meter sprint over and over. Ghost never makes it anywhere close to Bolt’s time. Eventually, Ghost asks for a break because he is tired. In response, Coach Brody laughs and tells him that if he thinks he is tired, just think of how his mother and principal feel. At this point, Ghost realizes he is being punished for his behavior at school.
Again, Ghost does not appear to recognize that what he thinks is confidence is actually extreme arrogance. He appears to think he has a good chance of beating the word record for sprinting, despite wearing high-top shoes, being a teenager, and having never professionally sprinted before. However, Coach Brody—who transitions back into his role as authority figure—knows how foolishly Ghost is behaving and plans to teach him a lesson. Ghost quickly catches on to what is happening, which proves to be his first important lesson in humility.
Themes
Coach Brody finally lets Ghost stop running when he sees his form has completely deteriorated. As Ghost walks around the track to cool down, he sees the rest of Defenders walking over to the track for the start of practice. Still exhausted, Ghost walks to his new teammates. Coach Brody gives everyone a brief pep talk and introduces everyone by name, including his assistant coach, a woman with braids named Coach Whit. Then he divides everyone up into groups depending on which event they run. Sunny gets placed in the long runner category, Patina—who goes by Patty—in the medium-distance category, and Ghost and Lu in the short-distance, sprint category.
Ghost’s punishment means that he will not be able to project overconfidence in practice because he is already too tired to impressively perform. This is especially bruising to Ghost’s ego because he gets put in the same group as Lu, who has quickly become his rival. Not only does Ghost have to swallow his pride, but he also has to start understanding what it means to be part of a team. So far, all of his running has been for himself, but now he needs to learn to run for others.
Themes
Already exhausted, Ghost spends the next several minutes running ladders, a series of sprints that start short, get longer, and then get shorter again. Because he is already exhausted, he comes in last every time. Finally, a five minute break comes, so Ghost can catch his breath. Unfortunately, he did not realize that he had to bring his own water, so he has nothing to hydrate with. One of the veteran runners, Aaron, sees that Ghost does not have water, so he offers him some, which Ghost happily accepts.
Ladders are a conditioning exercise that are often used in sports. They are known for being difficult and are therefore especially challenging for Ghost, who is already winded. Luckily, Aaron is the first person to step up and treat Ghost like a teammate by providing him with water. Aaron recognizes that Ghost does not know how to ask for help and offers it to him anyway.
Themes
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During the break, Lu tries to pick a fight with Ghost. He does not understand why Ghost is trying to fit in where he clearly does not belong and comments on his clothes. In response, Ghost says Lu is still mad because Ghost proved Lu wasn’t that fast and tells him to stop acting like he is Usain Bolt. Although the veterans largely stay out of the fight, they do warn Ghost and Lu to take it out on the track when they see them start to get heated. Before anyone can get too mad, Coach Brody blows his whistle, and the team goes back to running ladders.
Unfortunately, Lu does not want to be teammates with Ghost any more than Ghost wants to be teammates with Lu. Indeed, they seem poised to fight, just as Ghost fought Brandon at school earlier. Although Ghost was not the provocateur in either instance, he has a difficult time restraining himself from retaliating if he feels someone has wronged him.
Themes
As Ghost lines up on the track, he is still angry about Lu’s trash talking. He hates that Lu thinks he is perfect, especially when he isn’t. In his head, Ghost insults Lu’s albinism—though he does not know the name for the condition—which he thinks looks especially strange because Lu is African American. Despite his rage, Ghost has a hard time coming close to Lu in most of the sprints. Still, Ghost does not give up, especially when he sees Lu looking exhausted.
Even though he does not do it out loud, Ghost is making the same sort of unfair attacks toward Lu that Brandon uses on him. Again, Ghost feels justified in mistreating others if he feels like they have mistreated him first, which is not the lesson Coach Brody was hoping to instill.
Themes
On the second to last sprint of the day, Ghost feels himself closing in on Lu and thinks he might be able to beat him. However, just as he starts to kick it into high gear, his shoe comes untied, and he trips and falls hard. In the process of the fall, his shoes go flying off, and he badly skins his knees, eliciting an audible “Ohhhhhhhhh!” from his teammates. Coach Brody runs over to ensure Ghost is okay and then walks him over to the bench. He tells Ghost he can sit out the last sprint and then returns to the rest of the team. Ghost sits alone, feeling humiliated.
Ghost’s competitive nature gets the better of him, and he achieves the opposite of what he hoped to do. Although Coach Brody has been hard on Ghost throughout practice, he knows that the fall probably hurt Ghost emotionally more than it did physically, so he takes it easy on him. Coach Brody wanted track to be a positive experience for Ghost in addition to being a difficult one, and he knows this is a poor ending to Ghost’s first day.
Themes
After practice, Patty walks up to Ghost and tells him not to worry about his fall. According to her, it happens fairly often. Ghost explains that he feels extra embarrassed because he was trying to teach Lu a lesson. Patty responds that he should ignore Lu; Lu just has a bad attitude because everyone picks on his albinism. Ghost has never heard of an albino person before, so Patty has to tell him what is means.
Patty is the first rookie to show interest in Ghost and stick up for him. Additionally, she seems to know Lu quite well and her comments about him are meant to be constructive more than disparaging. Ghost responds positively to Patty, who shows him the positive perks that can come with being on a team.
Themes
Once everyone else has left, Ghost gets in Coach Brody’s cab. On the drive home, Ghost is silent because he is still embarrassed about wiping out at practice. Coach Brody tries to make Ghost feel better by telling him a story about how he wiped out in front of his teammates as a younger man. However, Ghost only half-listens to his story. When Ghost arrives home, he takes a pair of scissors to his shoes in an attempt to make them more suitable for running track.
Ghost spends the ride home in his head rather than listening to the lessons Coach Brody is attempting to teach him. Rather than reach out for help, Ghost tries to take matters into his own hands by cutting up his sneakers. Cutting into his sneakers symbolizes Ghost’s desire to alter himself and fit in with the rest of the team.
Themes
