Masculinity
One of the major themes in the short story is the idea of masculinity. The main character and his friends all try to be someone they are not and they try to appear much tougher that they are in reality. The reason why the adolescence wanted to show that they are tougher was to prove their masculinity and their self-worth. For them, the only way they could do that was to try and appear more dangerous than they were in reality. Thus, their actions were the result of their own feelings of incompetence and the result of their desire to be respected by those around them.
The effects of industrial development
The city in which the teenagers live is extremely affected by the industrial development that took place beside it. The people inside the city had no idea what the natural environment looked like and they believed that the industrial environment they lived in was natural and the perfect place to live. The environment they lived in also shaped the way they thought about morality and about what was good and wrong. Thus, the reader could reach the conclusion that they boys were the result of the environment they lived in.
Danger and the importance of appearance
The teenagers in the story all belong to middle-class families, living a comfortable life without having to worry too much about their necessities or about whether they will have enough money to be able to afford an education or not. But the young men in the story became bored with that way of life and began looking for something more challenging and demanding. They felt trapped in that way of life and thus they tried to gain more meaning by becoming more rebellious and by going against everything they were thought to do. The boys also understood how the appearances play an important role and thus they did everything they could to try and appear as dangerous as they could. They put a lot of effort into their appearance and they altered their physical appearance in such a way as to appear more dangerous. But their way of thinking and their exterior was just superficial and when they were put face to face with the real deal, they were unable to respond properly and realized that they were just little children in comparison to the real negative characters they encountered.
