Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hoot, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Conservation and the Natural World
Bullying and Corruption
Morality, the Law, and Protest
Parenting and Support
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Beatrice obviously followed Roy to the golf course and stole his bike. Now, she tells Roy to get on the handlebars and begins to pedal along the flooded streets. They stop when they reach a dirt road; by now, it’s only misting. Beatrice leads Roy through a hole in a chain link fence, which encloses a junkyard. Soon, they reach an old ice cream truck and Beatrice drags Roy inside. He refuses to hand over his shoebox, though he insists it’s just shoes inside. Beatrice snatches the box and asks why Roy is carrying around extra shoes. Roy says they’re for the running boy—the boy needs shoes so he doesn’t step on a nail or a cottonmouth. Beatrice just sneers at Roy, so Roy asks if she’ll beat him up quickly so he can get home to his parents.
Roy does as Beatrice says because he wants his bike back, but she’s also still intimidating—Roy’s attempt to speak calmly to her in the cafeteria was something of a front. Still, he decides that honesty is the best policy, even with someone trying to bully him. And the fact that Roy has shoes for Mullet Fingers makes it abundantly clear that Roy doesn’t have malicious intent—he’s just trying to help out a kid who seems to be in need. Roy tries again to call Beatrice’s bluff when he asks her to beat him up quickly so they can finish. It’s not clear if Beatrice actually plans to hurt Roy or just intimidate him, but making this request helps Roy to look less afraid and more reasonable.
Themes
Beatrice asks why Roy cares about the running boy, but Roy can’t answer. She stops Roy from running but doesn’t seem mad. They fall silent for a moment as a security guard walks by outside, and then Beatrice says she’ll make sure the shoes get to the running boy if Roy leaves him alone. She also reveals that he’s her brother.
Finally, revealing that Mullet Fingers is her brother explains why Beatrice has been so adamant that Roy leave him alone. Somehow, Beatrice thinks that she can protect Mullet Fingers by keeping Roy away from him, though it’s unclear why this is so.
Themes
Officer Delinko works late. By the time he heads for the motor pool at six, it’s pouring. He stands outside, thinking about how it’ll take him longer to achieve his dreams of becoming a detective, until lightning strikes a power pole and the lights at the station go out. Inside now, Delinko thinks about the incidents at the Mother Paula’s site. Kids aren’t usually so daring or persistent. Finally, the rain lets up enough for Officer Delinko to run to his car without getting too wet. As he drives past the Mother Paula’s site, the dispatcher reports a missing boy named Roy. Ten minutes later, Delinko sees a boy matching Roy’s description standing on the corner with a bike. Delinko offers to give Roy a ride—maybe now he can redeem himself.
Officer Delinko remains focused on his career as he thinks about the Mother Paula’s vandal—and about picking up Roy. Essentially, Delinko isn’t necessarily focused on doing the right thing. He’s focused on getting ahead and doing whatever it takes to do that. And while he can acknowledge that kids normally aren’t so persistent, he also doesn’t entertain any other reasons why the vandal might be targeting the construction site. That Roy’s parents reported him missing, meanwhile, indicates that Roy was right to worry: his parents are clearly concerned for his safety.
Themes
As Roy sits in the police car, he can’t stop thinking about what Beatrice told him: that Mullet Fingers is her stepbrother and is called Mullet Fingers because he can catch mullets, which are slippery, schooling baitfish, in his bare hands. He had been sent to a “special” school, but he ran away and their parents don’t know he’s in town. Then, Roy remembers how Beatrice picked up his bike and chomped a hole in the back tire so he’d have an excuse for being late. Officer Delinko interrupts Roy’s thoughts to ask if he’s heard anything about the hijinks at the Mother Paula’s construction site. Roy says he read the article in the paper, but nobody’s talking about it.
Mullet Fingers’s nickname suggests that he’s pretty connected to nature and animals (his ability to wrangle venomous snakes supports this, too). And the fact that Mullet Fingers was sent away, ran away, and that his parents don’t know he’s in town indicates that his and Beatrice’s relationship with their parents is very different than Roy’s relationship with his parents—and is likely less functional and respectful.
Themes
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They’ve now reached the Eberhardts’ house. Officer Delinko hands Roy a business card and asks him to call if he hears anything about the Mother Paula’s situation. Roy takes the card, but he doesn’t feel like telling on his classmates—and shouldn’t the officer just get a thank-you for getting him home safe? As Officer Delinko pulls Roy’s bike out of the trunk, Mr. Eberhardt comes out to chat about law enforcement stuff. When Mr. Eberhardt wheels Roy’s bike into the garage, Officer Delinko quietly asks Roy if Mr. Eberhardt might write a letter to the police chief about tonight’s events. Roy nods noncommittally. Just then, Mrs. Eberhardt rushes out and thanks Officer Delinko for his help—she’d lost faith in the police after the story in the paper. Roy sees Officer Delinko blanch, and the officer speeds away rather than answer if he knows the officer who fell asleep.
As far as Roy is concerned, Officer Delinko should focus on doing the right thing and helping people. It’s inappropriate, in Roy’s opinion, for Delinko to essentially try to pressure Roy into thanking him for the ride home by tattling on his classmates. Delinko’s request that Roy ask Mr. Eberhardt to write him a letter of commendation also reads as inappropriate to Roy. Taken together, this suggests that Officer Delinko, if not the entire Coconut Cove police department, isn’t exactly the most ethical workplace in town.
Themes
