Last updated on July 31, 2021
The Nickel Boys is a book by Colson Whitehead. It starts at the ending in 2014 with an unmarked grave, full of bones, on the north side of Boot Hill. We must go back in time to find out the details.
This post is a summary and review. If you want to know the details of the story and the ending of the book, read this post instead.
Growing Up in Tallahassee
Elwood Curtis is a black boy growing up in the south, in Tallahassee. He lives with his grandmother, who is determined to keep him away from bad influence. Elwood is smart and thoughtful, inspired by the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the few things they Harriet considers appropriate for listening. He is interested in the civil rights movement but doesn’t get much chance to participate.
Elwood dreams of college and cannot wait for the chance to attend. But being poor and black are handicaps he needs to overcome. He strives to live a life of honor but one wrong choice derails his life. The consequence is that he is sent to a reform school, Nickel.
Nickel Academy – Reform School
At Nickel, Elwood has to learn a capricious system. The rules are not clear, but punishment for any infraction is swiftly wielded by the administration. Elwood decides to get out as soon as possible, but his innate sense of justice makes this challenging. During a fight, his opponent said that he “doesn’t have a lick of sense”.
The boys at Nickel were used however the administration decided. There were lots of sick men who ended up working at Nickel, with free reign to inflict their cruelty.
Elwood’s closest friend was Turner. Turner knew how the system worked. It was his second time at Nickel, and he worked the system to his benefit. He tried to teach Elwood what he knew, but Elwood was wired differently.
Time to Get Away
The time came when Elwood needed to run for his life. Turner led the escape, but only one boy made it. We follow his journey through New York, employment, relationships. He’s made a life for himself, never going back to Nickel for any reunions. Some of the other boys did, and he followed their activity on the internet. He was one of the lucky ones, especially amongst the black boys. Nickel left its mark of trauma on every boy who went through its doors.
The Nickel Boys
The book ends back at the beginning. We make a full circle, seeing how stories weave and connect. The past has long tentacles, that make it into the future. When the past is unburied, it’s time for at least one black Nickel boy to return to the scene, to face the past and to reveal the hidden stories.
The Nickel Boys goes back and forth in time, contrasting life in and out of Nickel. The world, particularly the south, is hard if you’re poor, worse if you’re black and poor. Nickel encapsulates the worst of it, being run by racists and cruel men. Many of the trustees have connections with the Klan. Being at Nickel means being trapped by cruelty, torture, discrimination, or the threat of it. Here’s a fictional example of the school to prison pipeline.
Final Verdict
I found The Nickel Boys to be a beautifully written book, hard to read because of the justice and violence in it. It is a fictional exploration of the history of violence, racial discrimination, torture and abuse faced by young men. The author uses quotes from a real life story of abuse at the Dozier School for boys in Florida.
I recommend The Nickel Boys. Do you see elements of yourself and your choices in Elwood, in Turner, or any of the other characters? From where do we get our thirst for survival, our strength to overcome? What impact does historical trauma, individually and collectively have on our life today and our society?
I give this book 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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