Nickel Boy by Colson Whitehead Literary Analysis Essay Example

Stylistic devices are used by all authors to bring attention to different parts of their writings. In the book Nickel Boy, by Colson Whitehead, in the section where the marathon is mentioned many types of devices are used to show the protagonist's attitude. These devices help display his feelings of love for the marathon, mainly because it gives him a sense of belonging. It is learned that the protagonist grew up in a school with a bunch of other boys; however, even though there were so many people there he still felt like he was all alone and essentially isolated. This background information about the protagonist helps the reader get more in-depth knowledge on why he needs that sense of belonging and what draws him towards the marathon. Imagery and tone are just two of the many stylistic devices, however, they are used well to demonstrate the protagonist’s attitude of love towards the marathon and its surroundings. 

The imagery Whitehead uses in the text helps the reader picture what is happening around the marathon, and get a better understanding of what the protagonist is looking at and experiencing. What is happening around during the marathon is just one thing that draws him into its premises, and it’s part of the reason why he loves them so much. While watching the marathon the protagonist mentions, “Here everybody was around and by some miracle, you didn’t want to wring their neck, but give them a hug.” This quote helps picture the image of a big group of people just all together; it is just people existing in peace watching something they all enjoy. Whitehead using the words “wring their neck” gives an image of people wanting to hurt each other and “twist” each other's necks; however, his use of the word “hug” later in the sentence helps illustrate how the people around don’t hate each other, but that they like each other and want to be together and happy. Another example of imagery in the text is when it says, “The whole city, poor people and Park Avenue types, black and white, Puerto Ricans, on the curb, holding signs and national flags and cheering the people who had been their opponents the day before in front of them at the A&P check out, grabbing the last seat on the subway, walking like a walrus, too slow, on the sidewalk.” This imagery of a bunch of people with different backgrounds and ethnicities on the street together helps pull in the idea of belonging. The different types of people that might have hated each other before, have all come together on the street. They are holding signs and posters, and just cheering for one another, having fun. The images that are created from these quotes bring feelings of happiness, love, and belonging, which is what the protagonist feels towards the marathon. 

The protagonist's attitude towards the marathon is shown in the tone of the text, which is happiness, but also directness and darkness. The feeling of happiness can be seen throughout the text, and certain moments add to the protagonist’s feelings of love and togetherness towards the marathon. One of these moments is when it says, “Amid the noise of air horns, wolf whistles, and ghetto blasters shouting out old calypso tunes. ‘Go!’ and ‘You can do it!’ and ‘You got it!’” Whiteheads' choice to use uplifting phrases like “you can do it '' adds to the tone of happiness because when someone hears this phrase they normally would begin to feel pretty happy and uplifted. These words that the protagonist hears while watching are also most likely reasons as to why he enjoys marathons so much. These phrases give off feelings of support as well which is something that he might not be used to getting. His choice to also say that calypso tunes are heard further adds to the tone because this style of music is inspiring and cheerful, causing the people around to also feel this way. Furthermore, when going into the tones of directness and darkness, they can be seen in how he describes his old school. The description of it helps demonstrate why he might have never gotten support like the runners at the marathon. It states, “To think of those Nickel  nights where the only sounds were tears and insects, how could you sleep in a room crammed with sixty boys and still understand that you were the only person on earth.” This quote shows directness because the protagonist is just getting straight to the point of what he felt at the school, he is not sugar-coating his experiences/feelings. However, it also makes the reader feel darkness when it says how the “only sounds were tears and insects”, and that he felt like he was alone even though there were so many other boys. This tone of darkness and directness, kind of in the middle of all the happiness, could explain why he longs for joyful feelings which could come from events like the marathon. 

Now, even though there might be some darkness and sadness in the protagonist's past, those events are what ultimately caused him to have this attitude towards the marathon. The protagonist feels enjoyment, love, and closeness towards the marathon and the events surrounding it, which make him want to watch them. Whitehead can represent this in stylistic devices such as imagery and tone. These devices are just some of the few used to describe the feelings towards the marathon.