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In keeping his head down in his careful navigation so that he made it to lights-out without mishap, he fooled himself that he had prevailed. That he had outwitted Nickel because he got along and kept out of trouble. In fact he had been ruined.
This passage from Chapter 12 comes shortly before Elwood executes his plan to expose the injustices at Nickel. Throughout most of his stay at the academy, Elwood’s plan was to be obedient and compliant in hopes to be released early on good behavior. This passage shows Elwood coming to the realization that his subordination not only has not worked toward his release, but it has turned him into someone he does not recognize.
This quote serves as an example of how racism and racial violence wear down the Black students to a point of emptiness and resignation. The boys are so weary of Nickel’s abuse that they deviate from their true character. At Nickel Academy, violence is the most useful tool for administration because it births resigned obedience. However, in this pivotal moment, Elwood finally realizes the necessity of resistance, lest he be crushed by oppression.
The boys could have been many things had they not been ruined by that place. Doctors who cure diseases or perform brain surgery, inventing shit that saves lives. Run for president. All those lost geniuses.
In Chapter 13, after Elwood reunites with Chickie Pete in New York, he ruminates on the destroyed potential of all the boys lost to Nickel Academy. Each of those boys had better chances at life before being admitted to the academy, regardless of some of the destructive behavior and poor choices that led to their admittance. Elwood mourns the ways racism and oppression put an end to any sort of future success the Black students at Nickel could have had. Chickie Pete, for example, couldn’t pursue his trumpet-playing talents and wound up semi-homeless.
In this way, places like Nickel Academy not only stifle the lives of the students within its walls, but the entire world. Nickel robbed the world of potential geniuses who could have made a positive difference. Elwood himself was set on becoming a civil rights activist, but Nickel abducted him before he could begin. Elwood could have gone on to become a heroic figure of the movement for civil rights, but his life was cut short.
There are big forces that want to keep the Negro down, like Jim Crow, and there are small forces that want to keep you down, like other people, and in the face of all those things, the big ones and the smaller ones, you have to stand up straight and maintain your sense of who you are.
In Chapter 2, during Elwood’s study of the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he begins to develop his own personal creed for how he wants to approach life. He believes in his own worth and vows to stand up against anyone who undermines his dignity. Through Elwood, the entire novel explores the conundrum of hopeful action versus cynical defensiveness. Elwood, contrasted with Turner, maintains the belief that there is hope to be had and action to be taken. Turner takes a more cynical perspective, believing that racism will always exist and there’s no use fighting for change. This juxtaposition of ideologies requires the reader to make their own decisions. In a place like Nickel Academy, is it better to speak up and be true to oneself even though doing so may risk danger? Or is it better for one to suppress their instincts toward retaliation in order to promote one’s own survival?
Maybe there was no system at all to the violence and no one, not even the keepers nor the kept, knew what happened or why.
As Elwood awaits his first beating in Chapter 6, he contemplates the arbitrary nature of violence at Nickel Academy. Up until this point, Elwood was driven by the idea that justice always prevails and that every action has a logical reason. Here, the novel suggests that there exists evil—racism and racial violence—not backed by reason or meaning. Elwood observes that there is no pattern to the lashes the different boys receive; the bullies actually receive less punishment than the bullied. Elwood assumed he would receive less lashes than the others, but he soon realizes the punishment is arbitrary and senseless.
To think of those Nickel nights where the only sounds were tears and insects, how you could sleep in a room crammed with sixty boys and still understand that you were the only person on earth.
This quote comes in Chapter 13, as a future Elwood watches the New York City Marathon and reflects on his time at Nickel. Contrasted with the camaraderie of the marathon, Nickel was a place of painful isolation. The culture at the academy was “every man for himself,” with survival prioritized over a communal sense of belonging. Because he lacked unity for so long at Nickel, it is no wonder Elwood seeks out togetherness and kinship—even among strangers—in adulthood.
