While there are widespread protest going on in the world over #BlackLivesMatter, I’m bringing the review of a historically important novel based on racial segregation and history of black profiling in Jim Crow Era America which in one form or the other still continues today.
“The Nickle Boys” was written by Colson Whitehead in 2019 and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2020. It’s a fictional account of a real life juvenile correction facility named - “Dozier School” which was based in Florida. It’s dark history was exposed by a University recently based on some testimonies.
A young academically sound black boy, Elwood Curtis leaves his home to attend his first day at University, he rides in a stolen vehicle of which he has no idea. In Jim Crow Era America, he’s sent to a juvenile reform school- The Nickel Academy where he meets Jack Turner – as much as an idealist Elwood is, equally realist is his counterpart Turner. Elwood finds his inspiration in King and is very optimistic about the change in the world, while his friend Turner dismisses his claims. So, when Elwood finds himself in Nickel, he initially is very determined that the judiciary won’t fail him and he’ll be soon let out but that doesn’t happen and Elwood becomes witness to dreadful humiliation. Nickel is a very horrifying school – a true depiction of how racial inequality worked back when Jim Crow laws were in place. There’re two blocks of the school – one for the white juveniles and the other for the blacks. The school uses extreme forms of psychological and physical torture against the students which later manifests into their violent behavior and the same unfortunately happens with Elwood. He’s punished twice for his behavior. It’s even said that the school authorities would kill students and later label them as missed.
The novel moves between an older Elwood while he’s working in New York City and his school life in Nickel. The novel is slow, but the slow nature of the book gives the events in the book a deeper meaning – as if you are walking in a dark basement full of deadly snakes. Elwood’s life is an account of how systematic violence against blacks instilled fear and alienation in the hearts of blacks in America.
There are four ways to escape Nickel, and when all seemed to fail in his mind, it’s then when Elwood decides to go for the fifth. Turner has his back all the time. Turner’s character is one of the best created by Colson Whitehead. Nickel turns their life upside down into a total wreck. Boys who could have been doctors and teachers turned into aggressive citizens.
I loved the book but found it a bit less tense. The message is very strong but the book lacks the attraction factor. Maybe because it’s a follow-up to his previous novel - “The Underground Railroad” which might make it feel like a basic read.
Rating : 4/5
