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
Giant John McNab can’t get over his failure to strike out Maniac. He sees it as a blemish on his record. The only way he can think of to erase that blemish is to beat the kid up. So he and his friends, who call themselves the Cobras, search town for Maniac. They find him at the tracks, running along the rail. The Cobras start throwing stones and chasing Maniac. Maniac runs and runs, weaving desperately through town, everything a blur. Then, suddenly, the Cobras’ voices grow faint. Maniac turns to see them stopped a block away, waving their fists and then starting to laugh.
When the Cobras try to get back at Maniac for doing the unthinkable and publicly showing up Giant John (crossing an invisible line), they chase him across a more visible line without his knowing it.
Themes
The Cobras stopped short at Hector Street, which is the boundary between Two Mills’s East and West ends. Kids never cross that line, except for school or sports, and even then, they never act as if they belong on the other side. The Cobras laugh because they figure that Maniac will discover the truth quickly enough.
Maniac doesn’t know just how racially divided Two Mills is or the consequences of crossing its boundaries. The Cobras laugh because they assume that crossing into the East End will be its own punishment.
Themes
