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Love: The theme of love is present throughout the novel as characters often express or experience love between others. The two brothers eli and august loved each other greatly as they would look at for one another, or how eli loved lyle for how supportive and honest he was even though he wasn’t their father. As well as this Caitlyns love for Eli was the final stepping stone to him forgetting his trauma.

Quote - “And the phone rings again as she moves into me and the phone rings again as she closes her eyes and presses her lips against mine and I will remember this moment through the stars I see on the ceiling of this secret room and the spinning planets those stars surround and the dust of a million galaxies scattered across her bottom lip.” - Eli Bell

Quote - “the first man I ever loved” in reference to eli talking about lyle being his father figure

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Theme: brotherhood

Brotherhood is explored in the novel through eli and august. Despite their differences, there is a strong brotherly connection. For example, when august and elis dad crashed the car into a body of water, that was an experience they both shared. The flashbacks to that moment everytime eli encounters water may be shared with august, and this links to their brotherhood.

Quote : ‘i loved august like he was a part of me, because he was a part of me, and he always would be’

Quote: “I had my brother and that was all that mattered”

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Theme: Crime and trauma

Eli’s Mother and Lyle’s criminal activities and related past, was the catalyst to some of the traumatic experiences Eli faces within the novel. Crime is also given a positive connotation in a sense within the novel, as drug dealing was a means to provide a better life for their family, and allowed for Lyle and Eli to bond (We do not promote crime for any reason).

Quote: “the large window that Lyle throws his cigarette butts out of and I throw my apple cores out of, always following Lyle’s lead because, and maybe I’m too young to know better, Lyle’s always got a lead worth following.” (p.13) shows how Eli has been exposed to Lyle from such a young age that he treats him as a father figure, someone who he should follow. And as soon as the drugs enter the picture, Eli feels compelled that he should be a part of it as well because of Lyle, whether or not it is a good thing to do (as indicated by the fact that littering cigarette butts isn’t a good thing to do either, yet Eli imitates Lyle regardless).

Quote: ’That’s some prize parenting right there, my friend, bringing your kids to a drug deal’ (pg. 128), though Eli is the one that convinces Lyle to tag along for drug deals, it was irresponsible for Lyle to approve of this. Introducing Eli to criminal activities from a young age promotes unhealthy lifestyles, and allow him to view traumatic events that a child should not have to witness.

Quote: “the warped and macabre and plastinated severed head of

the first man I ever loved.” (p.480) shows just how brutal the world of crime that Eli has been in his whole childhood really is, now that he has grown up and is viewing it from an external perspective.

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Morality: The theme of morality is frequently shown throughout the novel as several characters showcase both those good and bad morales. Is lyle good because he takes care of eli, august and their mother or is he bad because he sells drugs. Is tytus broz a good man for the work he does in the community with prosthetic limbs or is he bad for his drug operations throughout the brisbane suburbs.

Quote - “Thinking of evil things and doing evil deeds are two very different things,” - Slim

Quote - “Mum’s love came hard. There was pain in it, there was blood and screams and fists against plasterboard walls, because the worst thing Lyle ever did was get my mum on drugs. I guess the best thing Lyle ever did was get her off drugs, but he knows I know that the latter could never make up for the former,” - Eli Bell

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Theme = Love

The novel revolves around the concept of love and respect, and love coming from trust and support, for example Eli calling Lyle dad, even if Lyle is not actually his dad, because Lyle is always there for him. And Eli also loves slim as well.

Quote - "‘I’m not going to his house.’ - Eli
‘It’s the only place you can go, kid.’ -Slim
‘I could stay with you.’ -Eli
‘You can’t stay with me, kid.’ -Slim
‘Why not?’ - Eli
This is Slim losing patience. It’s not loud what he says but it’s pointed. ‘Because you’re not my 🤬 kid, mate.’

Quote - You still want to go through with this?’ ‘I have to, Slim,’ I say. ‘She’ll be all right once she sees me. I know it.’ ‘What if that’s not enough, kid?’ he asks. ‘Two and a half years is a long time.’ ‘You said it yourself, a lag gets a little bit easier every time you wake up.’ ‘I didn’t have two kids on the outside,’ he says. ‘Her two and a half years will feel like twenty of mine. That men’s prison is filled with a hundred blokes who think they’re bad to the bone because they’ve done fifteen years. But those blokes don’t love nothin’ and nothin’ loves them back and that makes things easy for ’em.

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Theme 2: coming of age
The story follows seven years of Eli's life. How in the beginning he is an innocent middle schooler and as he ages he becomes aware of the crime happening around him and gets involved leading to a string of bad events that exposes him to the harsh reality of life forcing him to grow up.

Motif: Lucky finger
Quote 1: "Iwan puts Eli's right hand on the table and holds his knife to Eli's lucky forefinger."
the lucky finger is like Eli's comfort, it represents his innocence in his childhood. When his lucky finger gets chopped off ut symbolises his childhood disappearing and him growing up and facing reality instead of hiding in his imagination.

Quote 2:  “Watch my language? Watch my language? We’re 🤬 drug dealers. Drug dealers 🤬 swear. I’m sick of all these 🤬 airs and graces you and Lyle go on with.
this quote shows Eli facing the reality of Lyle being a drug dealer. this shows the starting point where he begins to slowly grow up out of his childhood mind.

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The novel explores how Eli and August come from a shattered family. With the family situation the book follows the theme of brotherhood between the two and how their connection grows with them experienceing similar trauma. There are several moments within the book that dive into their growth in their relationship.

Quote 1:
"Can you hear something"
August smiles
I grab for the phone but August pushes my arm away his left war squeezing the phone to his left shoulder. He's laughing now"
This moment of the bookin from page 27 to 30 represents imagery for the reader as I can imagine both boys getting easily angry off at eachother and eaily getting annoyed at eachotehr.

This is again showed during the chapter Boy stirs universe when there is a more deeper moment between the two throughout page 217 to 221 when they go more into depth about their trauma and the reader can see the August finally open up to Eli about his feelings/ trauma from not talking for majority of his life.

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Theme = Bildungsroman

The novel features elements of 'coming of age' explicity with the main characters, Eli and Gus. The two children have to come to terms with their world and finally achieve a reality where they can live like any other kid.

Quote -
‘What do we call it?’ Brian asked at the editorial meeting. ‘What’s our headline for this whole insane saga? Give it to me in three words.’ I said nothing. (Page 399)

Quote -
August was everything back then. Mum, dad, uncle, grandma, priest, pastor, cook. He made us breakfast, he ironed our school uniforms, he brushed my hair, helped me with my homework. (Page 24)

Quote -
You should be thinkin’ ’bout girls, Eli. You should be thinkin’ ’bout how you’re gonna climb the mountain. How you’re gonna climb outta that shithole you’re livin’ in there in Bracken Ridge. Stop tellin’ everybody else’s story and start tellin’ your own for once.’ (Page 211)

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Theme: Love

In the book, Eli's love for Caitlyn Spies is representative of the end of his trauma filled childhood. Moreover, his love is foreshadowed from the beginning of the novel, with August spelling out her name, displaying their destined connection.

Quote: “Your end is a dead blue wren. Boy swallows universe. Caitlyn Spies. No doubt about it. These are the answers.” (p.16) shows how Eli and Caitlyn Spies’s relationship was seemingly determined from the beginning, which August somehow knows about.

Quote: ‘Maybe I am biased because she really looks like the girl of my dreams in a Clark Kent-stye thick rimmed specs disguise, but there's warth in everything she says’ - (p. 205) shows that Eli has fallen hard for Caitlyn despite only having read her work and just having met her.

Quote: “I want to dive into those green eyes and scream ‘Geronimo!’ and splash into the world of Caitlyn Spies and never come back up for air.” (p.206) shows just how much Eli has become obsessed with Caitlyn that he seems to be completely captivated and forgets his surroundings.

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Theme = Justice

Idea: Injustice of the Criminal system
Slim pulling from his experiences while in prison talks about how the people who are meant to help rehabilitate the prisoners in reality are there to feel powerful.
“They took those jobs (the screws) because they were drawn to their own kind, all those rapists and killers and psychopaths they were pretending to help rehabilitate when all they were doing was feeding their own evil beasts that lay dormant inside the cells of their own 🤬-up heads.” - Slim

Idea: The Justice of drug dealer
Throughout the novel Tytus Broz through many different tactics doesn't get into any trouble through being in a positive relationship with police as well as surrounding himself with notorious violent men.
“Half the senior cops around here have their Christmas holidays funded by Tytus” - Lyle

Idea: The Injustice of child trauma

“Unplanned. Unwished. Unwilled. Untested. Underdeveloped. Undernourished. Undone. Unwanted. Unloved. Undead… Shoulda Coulda woulda never been here in the first place if that creep hadnt dragged Mum into his car way back in the way back then”

This paragraph proceeds Boy Loses Luck where he loses his finger.

In this paragraph Tytus Broz’s outlines how his misfortune is a result of actions outside of his control.

“You remain loyal to a man you do not know. A man whose disloyalty to me has placed you in the position you now find yourself in”

This explicitly shows a lack of justice as Eli identifies that the state of poverty he is in was no fault of his own. This elaborates into how this injustice is apparent due to a lack of resolve and respite on his end due to the actions of another.

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Theme = struggle

Throughout the novel, the theme of struggle is a key idea. Eli uses his imagination paired with his optimism to cope with the obstacles of life as he strives towards a "normal" childhood. August however struggled with his mind and took on silence to protect Eli because he comprehends things the rest of the world doesn't understand.

Quote - "There are things I wanna say, but if I say them, Eli, people would be frightened by those things."
- August

Quote - "Everything is going to be alright mum, everything is going to be alright."
- Eli

Quote - Lyle keeps writing words in the air, swiftly and surely, and August reads them, nodding his head in understanding with every word."
His way of coping with his struggles helped him in a traumatic event where Lyle's last words were written in the air to August about the drugs.

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Theme - Morality

Dalton writes Eli to constantly question whether morale of man and if everyone is good or bad. Ultimately Eli comes to the conclusion that there is good and bad in everyone but what's important

Quote -
'I'm a good man.' But I'm a bad man too. And that's like all men, kid. We all got a bit o' good and a bit o' bad in us. The tricky part is learnin' how to be good all the time and bad none of the time. Some of us get that right. Most of us don't." (Page 160) - Slim

Quote -
"Is Lyle a good man?"
'Yeah, kid.'
'Do you think I'm good?'
Slim nods.
'Yeah, kid, you're all right.'
(Page 170) - Slim

Quote -
"The whole point of life is doing what's right, not what's easy." - Slim

Quote -
'
"Everybody wants to measure the adult men in my life by goodness. I measure them in details, in memories, in the times they say my name."
"Never found out," I say "What's with you and men being good?"
"Never met a good one, that's all," he says. "Adult men, Tink. Most 🤬ed-up creatures on the planet. Don't ever trust 'em"
- Darren (Page 58)
'

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The theme of 'coming of age' is frequent throughout the entirety of the novel. Eli goes through a series of transformative experiences including his encounters with the underworld of drugs and the general relationships he forms through the years of young adulthood. The book shows how he struggles to find himself in a world where he feels he doesn't belong. It shows his journey from a young boy trapped in his lifestyle to a powerful young adult who aids in the decline of a notorious drug lord.

Quote - "Slim says I have an adult mind in a child's body"

This shows that despite the age of Eli being young, characters around him felt that he was always more mature for his age, showing that this could of influenced his transformative experiences

Quote - "A real type man, voice deep"

You can see the author set the stereotypes of masculinity showing how this could influenced the way Eli perceived masculinity which in turn maybe affected the way he himself became a man.

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Theme 1: Family
the novel is centred around Eli and his broken family. it explores the mending and breaking of family relationships and shows how people don't need to be blood-related to be considered family. it shows the support his family gives to each other and how they all stand by each other no matter the circumstances.

Quote 1: "Mum’s love came hard. There was pain in it, there was blood and screams and fists against plasterboard walls because the worst thing Lyle ever did was get my mum on drugs."

This quote shows how the family stands by their mum through her hard times and doesn't judge her for her issues.

Quote 2: August says. “He said so many things, and I reckon all those things put together wouldn’t say as much as he said when he’d wrap his arm around my shoulder.”

this quote shows the emotional comfort they offer each other and how they understand each other well. this especially exhibits the idea that you don't have to be related to be family as this interaction between August and Lyle shows.

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Theme = Brotherhood

The novel constantly displays how Eli and August know and understand their brother very well, as well as how they rely on each other as they face difficult situations together. This is shown by Eli recognising what August is saying through his facial expressions and hand scribbling in the air.

Quote- "I like talking to you, Gus" "I like talking to you, Eli"

Quote- "August looks across at me. And I know that look. That slightly upturned
half-smile, the way his left eye squints. That’s the way he says sorry
without saying sorry."

Quote- "I ran to our phone and I dialled three zeroes on the long rotary dial until
August gently put his finger down on the receiver. He shook his head. No,
Eli. I wept and August put a gentle arm around my neck and we walked
back down the hallway and stood staring at the door"

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Theme: Crime

Eli  is introduced and sucked into a world of crime which ties in with his past and family background. It shows the impact of crime and how it changed the life of Eli and those around him. Elis life changes when he is sucked into this world and the novel displays the contrast in which crime related activities can do to someone.

Quote: “Who are we kidding?” I shout. “Watch my language? Watch my language? We’re 🤬 drug dealers. Drug dealers 🤬 swear”  - Eli Bell

Quote:” The criminal world was a labyrinth and i was lost in it”

Quote: " In this world you either became a criminal or a victim"

Quote: " The line between good and evil was blurred in the criminal underworld"

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Theme = Trauma

The novel explores how Eli and his brother August deal with immense trauma their life. Eli's uses his imagination as a coping mechanism, while August uses silence.

Quote - "Eli, do you know what trauma is? And do you know that trauma can reach us in many forms, wearing many masks Eli" - Mrs Birkbeck

Quote - "Boy swallows past. Boy swallows himself. Boy swallows universe." - Eli

Quote - "Boy writes on air the way my old neighbour Gene Crimmins says Mozart played piano, like every word was meant to arrive, parcel packed and shipped from a place beyond his own busy mind" - Eli