Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Nickel Boys, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Repression
Unity, Support, and Hope
History, Secrecy, and Racism
Civil Rights, Dignity, and Sacrifice
Power, Fear, and Upward Mobility
Summary
Analysis
Elwood has three nights at home before going to Nickel Academy, the reform school a judge sentences him to in the aftermath of his arrest for stealing a car. A police officer picks him up and then drives him and two white boys to Eleanor, Florida. When they arrive at Nickel, Elwood is surprised to find the grounds clean and well-kept. He even sees a group of boys playing football and begins to think that the school might not be so bad after all. Right away, he meets Maynard Spencer, the superintendent, who tells him and the other two boys how things work at Nickel. He explains that Elwood is a Grub, saying that there are four tiers of students at Nickel: Grubs, Explorers, Pioneers, and Aces. Students earn points for behaving well, and this helps them move through the different levels.
Although the mere fact that Elwood has been sent to Nickel is itself a grave injustice, the school’s achievement-based hierarchy actually seems to align with his overall belief that hard work leads to progress. While the world outside fails to conform to this belief, at least Nickel’s system of upward mobility resembles Elwood’s general outlook—giving him small solace in an otherwise troubling time.
Themes
Spencer explains that students at Nickel can leave when they become Aces. To do this, Elwood needs to listen to his supervisors, do his work, and complete his studies. Before Spencer finishes his welcome speech, he says that the students are responsible for how long they stay at Nickel. Before he leaves, he warns them against misbehaving, assuring them that they won’t like the results.
Spencer’s parting words foreshadow the violence that underlies Nickel Academy’s entire structure, but this threat is couched within a message of independence and agency. To that end, Spencer suggests that Elwood has the ability to change his circumstances by working hard, a message that no doubt resonates with Elwood’s belief in the value of determination and hard work. In this way, Spencer gives Elwood a sense of power while also hinting that he is completely powerless in comparison to his superiors.
Themes
After Spencer’s introductory speech, another staff member leads Elwood to a room in a basement, where he dresses in a school uniform, which is in significantly worse condition than what the two white boys have to wear. He then goes to the part of campus where the black students live. On his way, a man named Blakely—who is in charge of his dorm—reiterates the idea that each student is responsible for his own destiny at Nickel. There is an emphasis on work, he says, but the students also have educational instruction every other day. “Not what you expected?” he asks when he sees Elwood’s reaction to the idea of only going to school every other day. In response, Elwood tells him that he was going to take college classes before he was sent to Nickel, but Blakely only tells him to speak to Mr. Goodall—the teacher—about the matter.
Although the Supreme Court has already ruled that schools must desegregate, Nickel Academy continues to separate white and black students. This hints at the fact that the school operates on its own terms, paying little attention to laws and regulations. On another note, Elwood is disappointed to hear that his education will almost certainly grind to a halt at Nickel, and though Blakely tells him to speak to Mr. Goodall about this, it seems unlikely that the school will make an exception for him. Consequently, he’s forced to come to terms with the fact that his upward trajectory has been suddenly stalled through no fault of his own.
Themes
Elwood’s dorm building is called Cleveland. When he walks inside, he quickly sees that the interiors of the buildings are in much worse shape than the exteriors. The couches are ripped and dirty, there are initials and curses etched into wood surfaces, and the floors are buckled and weak. Blakely shows him to his bed, which is in a room of thirty bunks, and introduces him to a student named Desmond. Blakely tells Desmond to show Elwood around. Before he leaves, he says, “Don’t think I won’t be watching you.” That night, Elwood wakes up to the sound of a strange whoosh that sounds mechanical and unrelenting. Wondering what it is, he hears a boy across the room say, “Somebody’s going out for ice cream,” and several other boys laugh in response.
When Blakely tells Elwood that he’ll be “watching” him, it demonstrates the extent to which the students at Nickel are under constant scrutiny. This, in turn, undermines the idea that they have agency, since the staff members are constantly looking for opportunities to punish them. To add to this climate of fear, Elwood wonders about the sound in the middle of the night, his uncertainty surely contributing to his overall sense of disorientation.
Themes
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