Knots symbolize problems that appear unsolvable on the surface, but that—in careful, deft hands—can be gradually unraveled. Maniac Magee is gifted at untying knots. He’s the first member of the Beale household who can successfully untangle little Hester and Lester’s shoelace knots, and soon Hester and Lester send their friends to Maniac to get their sneakers’ knots untied, too. Most memorably, Maniac unravels the legendary Cobble’s Knot, a four-blocks-long ball of string that has thwarted a whole generation of kids. Maniac takes his time with the task and has a surgical delicacy: “He had to find the right routes to untangle the mess, or it would just close up again like a rock and probably stay that way forever.” These words might as well apply to the much knottier problem of race relations in Two Mills, Pennsylvania, as Maniac learns throughout the story that forging friendships between kids of different backgrounds isn’t a quick, miraculous fix, but a process that requires time, wisdom, and patience.
Knots Quotes in Maniac Magee
After polishing off the Krimpets, Maniac did the last thing anybody expected: he lay down and took a nap right there on the table, the knot hanging above him like a small hairy planet, the mob buzzing all around him. Maniac knew what the rest of them didn't: the hardest part was yet to come. He had to find the right routes to untangle the mess, or it would just close up again like a rock and probably stay that way forever. He would need the touch of a surgeon, the alertness of an owl, the cunning of three foxes, and the foresight of a grand master in chess.
Knots Symbol Timeline in Maniac Magee
