Myth, Reality, and Heroism
Maniac Magee is the story of an orphaned kid to whom ordinary rules don’t seem to apply: Jeffrey “Maniac” Magee doesn’t have parents, runs away from his gloomy adoptive home, and doesn’t go to school. What’s more, he distinguishes himself in the town of Two Mills by pulling off a series of unlikely deeds, which is how he becomes known as “Maniac.” The story is even told from the perspective of later years, giving the…
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Racism
The town of Two Mills is neatly divided into two segregated halves: white people live in the West End and black people live in the East End. When Maniac Magee (a white kid from elsewhere) arrives in town, running from a life as an orphan, he doesn’t know this. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be aware of racial difference at all. Racial prejudice is incomprehensible to him because he is just an orphan looking…
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Love, Loss, and Home
Maniac’s story is largely that of an orphan finding home—but it isn’t a tidy, decisive event. For Maniac, it’s a gradual, painful process in which he’s constantly aware of the losses he’s experienced in the past, and he fears facing them all over again. Maniac lost his parents in an accident when he was a little boy, then ran away from his aunt and uncle’s loveless household. When he winds up in the town…
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Human Dignity, Connection, and Community
In some ways, Maniac Magee is the story of an exceptional individual: many scenes revolve around Maniac’s attention-grabbing accomplishments and the sensation they create around Two Mills. Yet, in another way, Maniac’s real achievements go relatively unnoticed, most notably his relationships with ignored or neglected people and the transformative effects these relationships can have. Such relationships, like those with Earl Grayson and the McNab boys, are sustaining for Maniac as well, as he sees that…
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