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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Record of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speeches
On Christmas Day in 1962, young Elwood Curtis receives a record album of speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that profoundly impacts and influences his life. Called Martin Luther King on Zion Hill, it is Elwood’s only record album and it never leaves the turntable. The memorized words often come to Elwood when he’s at Nickel Academy, bringing him solace and hope and reminding him of his ideals and his goals for the future. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words remind Elwood to love even those people that bring him harm. Harriet, Turner, and Mr. Marconi often wish Elwood didn’t focus on his ideals. From the beginning of The Nickel Boys the reader is told that Elwood’s commitment to justice will tragically be his undoing.
The White House/Ice Cream Factory
The White House is the building where students at Nickel Academy are taken to be punished with brutal beatings by Spencer or the houseman. The white teenagers call it the Ice Cream Factory because of the multiple colors of bruises they receive there. The Black boys think the White House is a fitting name because it is a white building, a place of power, and it delivers punishment. The White House is also the name of one of the most important government buildings in the United States. It’s both ironic and significant that a building named after an iconic government building is the embodiment of the violent racism that occurs against the Black students at Nickel, and that it signifies the brutal pervasiveness of racism and injustice. The White House/Ice Cream Factory comes up again and again as Elwood and others are continually taken there to face unbearable punishment with every perceived misstep at Nickel Academy, suggesting that no matter how hard they try, they are subject to its brutality and the whims of white supremacy.
“Out Back”
At the Nickel Academy, both white and Black students face routine beatings for even the most minor infractions. While the “justice” system at Nickel is broken, unfair, and unpredictable, it is also inherently racist as evidenced by the threat of taking Black students “out back.” Turner shows Elwood what is “out back” to help him understand the severity of the punishments he could face. Near the old horse stables on the edge of campus are two trees where Black students are tied up and beaten to death. Only Black students face this punishment, and the fear of it is used to control them. Griff, the Black student who competes in the boxing match, is told to lose the fight or he will be taken “out back.” Turner also finds out that Spencer plans to take Elwood “out back,” which is what leads him to help Elwood escape.
