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
Jeffrey’s second appearance in Two Mills that day occurs in the backyard of 803 Oriole Street. This is Finsterwald’s house—an infamous place to the kids of Two Mills. Nobody knows exactly what Finsterwald does to kids. All anyone knows is that, to this day, if you see a “poor, raggedy, nicotine-stained wretch” around town, he was probably once a normal kid who stumbled onto Finsterwald’s property by accident. That’s why no kid dares chase a stray baseball or boomerang into Finsterwald’s backyard.
Jeffrey again crosses a boundary that nobody else would dare. This time, though, the stakes are higher than just running across the football field. It’s not clear precisely what kind of threat Finsterwald poses, or if he’s really a threat at all—but the kids of Two Mills have developed a legend about him that might be scarier than reality.
Themes
But this particular afternoon, screams are coming from a 10-year-old in Finsterwald’s backyard. Nobody’s sure of his name nowadays, but for convenience, he’s called Arnold Jones. Several high school kids are hoisting Arnold Jones above Finsterwald’s fence while he screams in desperation. But of course the high school kids drop Arnold Jones into the yard. Then they wait and watch. Arnold Jones just crouches there, his teeth chattering and his body trembling—a condition the kids call “the finsterwallies.” The high school kids clap and cheer.
Older kids use the stories of Finsterwald to terrorize younger kids, suggesting that not only are racial divisions a problem in Two Mills, but that there’s an atmosphere of bullying in general.
Themes
Years later, no one can say exactly what happened. Some say that Jeffrey just hopped the fence; others say he just opened the backyard gate and walked in. But everyone remembers seeing the raggedy kid walk in and approach Arnold Jones, who promptly fainted in shock. Jeffrey put his book between his teeth, picked up the limp Arnold Jones, and hauled him out of Finsterwald’s backyard, depositing him on the front steps. When Arnold Jones wakes up and realizes where he is, he takes off. Jeffrey, meanwhile, just stretches out on the front steps and begins to read.
As a newcomer, Jeffrey doesn’t have any reason to know about the legend of Finsterwald, but he knows what the cries of a helpless kid sound like, and he calmly comes to the rescue. He’s willing to cross boundaries that others won’t in order to give help where it’s needed. As an outsider, he doesn’t have the same ingrained fears as those who’ve grown up here.
Themes
