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
Maniac shows Piper his birthday gift, a compass, and promises to give it to him when the school year ends. George McNab leaves the room, saying, “Let me know when it leaves,” referring to Mars Bar. The kids are distracted by loud, silly games, but these soon devolve into “Rebels,” a game of “blacks vs. whites.” Most of the kids crowd into the “pillbox,” wanting to be “whites.” When one kid, a member of the Cobras, leaps from the hole in the ceiling and startles Mars Bar, Maniac has to restrain Mars Bar and Giant John from getting into a fight. John stops when Maniac reminds him that he owes Maniac for bringing his little brothers home.
The McNabs’ racism is vicious, worse than anything Maniac has directly encountered before. While the little boys’ “Rebels” game might retain an element of innocence (as will be shown later), George McNab’s very real hatred of black people shows where such “games” lead.
Themes
Out in the street, Maniac follows Mars Bar, who finally yells at Maniac for “suckering” him and heads back to the East End. Maniac feels he deserves that—he shouldn’t have expected a miracle. Yet he feels proud of Mars Bar for showing pride—ready to take on the Cobras even while badly outnumbered. Mars Bar isn’t “bad,” he thinks; he’s good.
