The Nickel Boys Literary Elements

Historical fiction, coming-of-age

1960s to near present day, Florida and New York City

A third-person narrator closely follows the thoughts of two protagonists: Elwood and Turner. The story is presented as if it were solely Elwood’s point of view but, in a plot twist, Part Three reveals that "Elwood" in the present day has actually been Turner, as Turner took Elwood's identity after Elwood was shot.

Dark, disturbing, matter of fact, ironic

Elwood is the protagonist. Nickel Academy, as an institution, is the antagonist. Characters like Superintendent Spencer and Director Hardee serve as symbols of Nickel Academy and direct antagonists.

Elwood’s dignity and moral principles are sorely tested by the abuse and brutality he faces at the Nickel Academy.

Elwood informs the school inspectors of the abuse taking place at the Nickel Academy. Superintendent Spencer plans to kill him as a punishment, but Turner and Elwood escape the reform school together. Elwood is shot in the back while Turner manages to successfully escape; his death reveals that Turner took on Elwood's name and identity after returning to society.

When Elwood “wins” a set of encyclopedias he discovers that they are blank inside. This foreshadows his failed attempts to improve his prospects through education. On his first day of college, Elwood is arrested and sent to the Nickel Academy instead.

When Elwood is wrongfully arrested and sent to reform school, the narrator understates his distress: “Elwood had never been much of a crier, but he’d taken it up since the arrest.”

The series of books known as “The Hardy Boys” is referred to several times in The Nickel Boys. The Hardy Boys books were children’s books, first published in 1927. The two white protagonists, Frank and Joe, had adventures while solving mysteries. The series remained popular for several decades thanks to its straightforward formula. The boys were clever, brave, and luck was always on their side. Together, they represented an ideal of American boyhood.

Elwood is first shown reading the series, along with comic books, as he waits for his grandmother in the kitchen of the Richmond Hotel. His enthusiasm for the Hardy Boys and comic books when he is younger shows his unsophisticated tastes. Both forms of literature guarantee an exciting story that involves the triumph of good over evil. Both also offer unlikely role models for Elwood. As a black American, he might as well aspire to be a comic book hero as a Hardy Boy. The color of the brothers’ skin is a significant factor in their charmed lives.

Significantly, when Elwood wins a set of encyclopedias, he clears the bookshelves of the Hardy Boys to make way for more intellectual reading matter. Unfortunately, the mostly blank reference books turn out to be of little educational value.

Due to his race, Elwood has no chance of becoming anything like the Hardy Boys. Instead, he faces a very different future—that of a Nickel Boy. The grim reality of this identity starkly contrasts with the golden lives of Frank and Joe. Searching the recreation room’s bookshelves at the reform school, Elwood ironically finds only comic books and the Hardy Boys—choices he has long outgrown. These slim literary pickings reflect Nickel’s determination to keep its black students uneducated and oppressed.

The secret graveyard is an abiding image through the novel, symbolizing the dark history of the Nickel Academy. It represents all the abuse and neglect that took place there and the fact that the school’s staff was never held accountable.

The Nickel Boys’ attitude to escaping from the reform school is a paradox. On the one hand, the fantasy of running away is the only thing that makes their lives bearable. On the other hand, the boys know that if they are caught escaping, they will be killed. This paradox is summed up in the statement, “It was crazy to run and crazy not to run.” (Part Three, Chapter 12).

Throughout the novel, the author draws parallels between the racist practices of the Nickel Academy and those of the outside world. The reform school is presented as a microcosm of American society.

Martin Luther King often refers to “the Negro” in his speeches. When he does so, he is referring not to one person but all African Americans. Elwood is struck by the eloquent way King sums up how it feels to be black in American society: “Dr. King’s speeches were such a vivid chronicle —containing all that the Negro had been and all that he would be.”

The Nickel Academy is also often referred to as one entity (“Nickel” or “the school”), even though it is made up of many members of staff. When referring to the way the Academy makes money out of its students; for example, the narrator states, “Nickel earned its keep.” The reform school is alluded to in this way because no one is ever held responsible for what takes place there. The abuse and exploitation at Nickel depend upon many corrupt individuals working as one. For this reason, the students perceive the school as one evil entity.

“Jim Crow ain’t going to just slink off … His wicked self.” In Chapter 2, Elwood’s grandmother compares the Jim Crow laws to an evil person.