Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Boy Jack, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bravery, Duty, and Honor
Parental Expectations
Patriotism and the British Empire
Loss and Resilience
Summary
Analysis
Nine years after Elsie’s wedding, Rudyard and Carrie sit at home listening to the radio, which announces Hitler’s rise to power. Rudyard quickly turns it off, saying, “For nothing, for nothing, for nothing.” And then, as if speaking to children who aren’t there, he recites a poem that features two different speakers. The first speaker asks if there has been news of his son, Jack, but the second speaker says there has been no word of him. Toward the end of the poem, the first speaker asks how he can find “comfort” in life if his boy, Jack, is never to return. The second speaker says there’s no comfort to be found, except for the knowledge that Jack was an honorable man who brought pride to his countrymen.
It's not exactly clear what Rudyard means when he says, “For nothing, for nothing, for nothing.” However, one interpretation is that the news of Hitler’s growing power in Germany makes him feel as if the attempt to prevent a German victory in World War I was all “for nothing.” This might suggest that Jack’s death didn’t end up making a difference. And yet, the poem Rudyard recites—which is called “My Boy Jack”—celebrates the idea that Jack died an honorable death while serving his country. It seems, then, that Rudyard has maintained his patriotism and his idealistic notions of honor and bravery, even if he has been weighed down by the tragedy of Jack’s death at the same time. In the end, it’s not clear whether Rudyard fully reconciles his belief in patriotism and duty with the deeply felt loss of Jack.
Themes
