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
Early on Christmas morning, Maniac and Grayson venture out into the still-dark morning. They visit their tree in the woods. They wander through the zoo, wishing a merry Christmas to the animals. Maniac gives the baby buffalo a scarf. Then they go home for breakfast and gifts. Among Maniac’s gifts for Grayson is a handmade book titled, The Man Who Struck Out Willie Mays. Among Grayson’s gifts for Maniac is the baseball glove he’d used in the Minors. Maniac can’t take his eyes off it. But five days later, Grayson dies.
Christmas is a culmination of Maniac’s and Grayson’s relationship. Their gifts to each other (and to the animals) are tokens of their existing love, knowledge, and respect for one another. Yet the happiness Maniac experiences in his new home isn’t to last—he’s on the precipice of yet another loss.
Themes
