Rain (Motif)
Throughout the text, rain symbolizes different stages of life, death, and rebirth. Harri's family immigrates to London, a city notable for its ubiquitous rainy days. In scenes where Harri processes death and violence, such as the dead boy's funeral, Harri comments on the rain. Thus, the text uses the ubiquity of rain to symbolize the prevalence of violence in Harri's community.
In the opening scene, Harri observes the dead boy's mother guarding the crime scene and states that the rain "wanted to come and wash the blood away but she wouldn't let it." Harri personifies the rain and pits it against the will of a mother, who Harri believes is powerful enough to control the weather but powerless to prevent her son's death. In the final scene, Harri runs through the rain, feeling invigorated and alive. However, because he is enjoying his "rain run," Harri does not notice his killer lying in wait. Thus, the motif of rain marks the story coming full circle.
Points (Motif)
Harri and his friends frequently make up games, awarding themselves arbitrary points for various tasks. For example, Harri and Lydia compete to see who can spot specific articles of clothing at the laundrette. Harri and Dean compete to find things in the river, saying that whoever sees "a human head first gets a million points." Harri understands and navigates his world using points. He compares his talents and motivates himself using this game. For example, when Jordan pressures Harri to smash bottles and the Dell Farm Crew assigns Harri his missions, he reconceptualizes the crimes as a game to silence his anxiety. The points motif frequently reminds the reader of Harri's youth and innocence and invites the reader to feel sympathy for children in dangerous, stressful environments.
Blood (Motif)
The text opens with the visceral imagery of the dead boy's blood spilled on the pavement in front of Chicken Joe's. After observing this traumatic scene, Harri fixates on blood. In art class, he grows frustrated trying to recreate the color of the dead boy's blood, though he doesn't understand why. When Harri and Dean find the dead boy's wallet, Harri feels the confusing urge to taste the blood. Thus, blood is used as a motif throughout the text to represent Harri's process of understanding the violence and death that surrounds him.
Eyes (Symbol)
Harri believes that eyes represent and contain a person's soul or humanity. At the funeral, Harri is disappointed that he couldn't see the dead boy's eyes because he wanted to check "what dreams they gave away." Harri feels that he can understand the dead boy better if he looks into his eyes.
Harri also believes eyes indicate a person's character and that he can identify a killer based on their "little piggy eyes."
When Harri condemns Lydia for cleaning the bloodstained clothes, he says, "if God saw what you did he'd take your eyes." To Harri, eyes represent life and humanity, and committing or abetting violent crimes diminishes a person's humanity. Thus, having a person's eyes "taken" is a fitting punishment.
Scars (Symbol)
Using a marker, Harri and his friends draw scars on their bodies. Initially, Harri draws his scars with stitches, but after his second failed mission with the Dell Farm Crew, Harri begins to draw the scars without stitches because "if the stitches are still in it's just a cut." These "scars," represented visually in the text, symbolize the psychological "scars" the children in Harri's community receive by witnessing violence and living in fear. At the start of the text, Harri had hope that his emotional wounds would heal, represented by his scars with stitches. After abetting the mugging of Mr. Frimpong, Harri's "scars" are permanent, which he represents by drawing scars without stitches.
