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About a Boy by Nick Hornby Exploring themes

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At first glance, the themes listed in the grid below make this novel sound sombre and indeed Hornby explores them in a serious way. There is, however, also humour in their presentation, which you will see when you check some of the references below and when you complete the following activities. 1. Have a look at the following list of some of the themes you can find in the novel.

Rank them in what you consider to be order of importance. Are there any other themes which you think are also important? Be prepared to justify your decisions.

single mothers growing up fathers

loneliness suicide friendship

bullying masculinity love

marriage truth and lies depression

popular culture

2. Use the page references provided to find quotations and make notes about the

themes. (All page references are to the Penguin 2000 paperback edition.) 3. Now consider which themes relate to which of the two main characters, Marcus and

Will, and their stories – how far do some relate to both?

Marcus Will

Single mothers – this is relevant to Marcus’s story because …

Single mothers – this relates to Will because …

4. Assessment activities

In a group use the notes that you have made so far (questions 1 -3) to help you prepare for a speaking and listening assessment:

o either an individual presentation on one of the themes above (make sure each group member presents a different theme)

o or each of you could prepare three or four themes so that you can all contribute to a class discussion of question 3.

In pairs, prepare a detailed essay plan on one theme. The full set could be copied for the whole class. If you are studying WJEC English Language use the controlled assessment question framework.

Use the plan to write the essay individually.



Relationships and family life

Read p126 and p159 for Will’s comparison of his own family to Marcus’s and read p271 for what Marcus

wants from his family. Ellie (p154/181) – what do you make of ‘auntie’ Ellie’s ‘adoption’ of Marcus?

Single mothers

Compare Will’s expectations in the final paragraph of chapter 4, (p24) with the reality he encounters at

the SPAT party on (pp34/5). Know your 90s – for what action was Lorena Bobbitt famous?

Fathers

Read Suzie’s account of Megan’s father on p35 and p52 and Marcus’s conversation with his father Clive

on pp269-71. How important is Will as a father figure?

Suicide

Compare the different attitudes given, starting with Fiona’s suicide letter (pp64/5); Suzie’s anger

(pp57/8); Will’s reaction (p90); Marcus’s fear (pp101/2); Marcus and Ellie’s conversation (pp180-2).

Know your 90s – what connection does Kurt Cobain have to this theme? Read pp216-8, 234, pp245/6.

Bullying

Make notes on some of the many examples of bullying in the novel e.g. Marcus (p39); how he copes

(p29); his hair (p99); trainers incident (p112/115); Nicky and Mark (pp28-30); Ellie’s support (p181); Will

(p125) – what do you make of ‘he’d successfully avoided being bullied by bullying furiously and

enthusiastically’?

Love and marriage

Read p171 and p210 for Will’s attitude to love, p191 for how Marcus’s view starts to make Will rethink

his own; p9 then p275 for Will’s changed attitude to marriage.

Depression

Compare Fiona’s experience of depression (pp244/5) to Rachel’s (p227); contrast Will’s changing attitude

to problems on p106 and p243; think about what Hornby means by ‘the point’ (p221, p224, p245). Can

you find other references to it?



Outsiders and problems

Marcus can’t avoid being an outsider and it causes him problems (p42/p99) whereas Will chooses this

lifestyle to avoid ‘problems’ (p106/p243). What’s the irony when outsiders Ellie and Ruth meet,

(p261/2)?

Growing up

Read pp119-122, the conversation between Marcus and his mother on why he’s not yet allowed to make

his own decisions and compare to Will’s point of view on p147. Is it only Marcus who grows up during

the novel?

Loneliness

Read how Will uses ‘units of time’ to combat loneliness (pp71-3) and compare to Marcus’s point of view

of him (pp156/7). How is loneliness different from being alone?

Friendship

Compare Will and his male friends (p71) with Suzie as a friend to Fiona (p51); track the development of

Will and Marcus’ friendship from early routines (p100/1 and p104), conflict (pp214-6), to commitment

and affection (p214/220); track the development of Will’s friendships with women (p128/222-3/244);

Marcus and Ellie (p183, p190-1, 247) – just friends?

Masculinity

Read p5 for a summary of Will’s masculinity, p9 for his response to being a godfather and pp129-31 for

his attitude to Marcus’s need for male company. Contrast the presentation of Marcus and Ali on p195

through their appearance and interests.

Truth & lies

pp31/2 explains the background to Will’s easy decision to invent a family in order to meet single women;

track the development of this through p36, pp44/5, pp76/7 and p92 to Will’s growing confidence p175

and then other characters’ reactions to the truth e.g. Suzie in contrast to Marcus (pp169/70); Rachel

(pp205/6, 208).

Popular culture

There are many references to popular culture (music, films, TV, celebrities, magazines etc) many of which have symbolic meaning. Hornby uses popular culture references as a kind of shorthand to convey ideas and attitudes he expects his readers to know of and perhaps share. Research some examples, e.g. what do Will’s magazine choices tell us about him (p50)? What does he think of novelty songs (p47, p125)? Contrast the films Marcus lists on p3 and p58. Try to find some other references.

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