Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Maniac Magee, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Myth, Reality, and Heroism
Racism
Love, Loss, and Home
Human Dignity, Connection, and Community
Summary
Analysis
It’s hard to know what’s true and what’s myth about Maniac Magee. They say he was born in a dump, led a pet cockroach on a string, and would lose his mythical speed if he ran over salt. Finsterwald is now gone, but the band shell is still there, and so is Cobble’s Corner. In fact, if you ask, the man behind the counter at Cobble’s Corner will show you the famous wad of string.
The story has a mythical tone from the beginning, creating the expectation of a main character with remarkable abilities whose origin is a mystery. Yet places and objects still bear witness to Maniac Magee’s existence, suggesting that myth and reality will be mixed together in this story.
Themes
Today little girls in Two Mills will jump rope and sing a chant about Maniac running all night and kissing a bull. Sometimes one of the girls is from the West side of town, and the other girl is from the East side of town—which is really the best legacy Maniac Magee has left, “even if it wasn’t really a bull.” Anyway, “the history of a kid is one part fact, two parts legend,” and it’s important “not to let the facts get mixed up with the truth.”
Maniac Magee leaves behind a legacy of overcoming divisions, though the nature of those divisions isn’t clear yet. There’s a distinction between fact and truth in Maniac Magee’s life, suggesting that Maniac’s impact might be more important than the specific facts about him.
Themes
