“The Nickle Boys” Review
We’ve all heard that truth is stranger than fiction, and sometimes, reality can be far worse than even the most depraved imaginations. This is something Colson Whitehead takes full advantage of in his book The Nickle Boys, a work that follows Elwood, an idealistic and earnest African American teenager living during segregation, who is sent to the Nickle Academy after being sentenced for hitchhiking in, unbeknownst to him, a stolen vehicle. While this all sounds rather normal, nothing about this novel
Whitehead took a different approach to tell this historical story. Instead of writing a book centered around nothing but the facts of the case, he used fiction to tell the facts and the school’s story, allowing us to learn and even empathetically relive the tragic events. The academy in the book, Nickel, is based on the real Dozier School for Boys in Florida, a reform school that ran for 111 years before being shut down in 2001. Stories of physical and mental abuse from the staff in charge of reforming these boys are played out in the book, tales of the student nicknamed “Ice Cream Factory”, a building actually called the “White House”, that did truly exist at Dozier and served an identical purpose.
Whitehead’s style is straightforward and to the point, but mixes history and fiction seamlessly. Having read the book with little prior knowledge and then doing my own research, I was shocked to learn that what may have come across as fictitious or mere fluff to add tension or stir anger, was all indeed real. Things like beatings, ranging anywhere from “. . . around seventy . . .” licks to “. . . passed out before they were done.”. Despite the grim atmosphere of his story and the source material, Whitehead gives the events the respect and maturity they deserve, writing the story as to show the events for what they were, pure and simple abuse, he even tries his best to write the characters in a logical and understandable way, which I think he succeeded at. Some cope through cynicism and bitterness, others take their anger out on others, some become despondent, while Elwood becomes driven and hopeful but maintains a “ . . . soft . . .” and “. . . goody-goody . . .” attitude where one would not expect it.
Whitehead chose well when writing this story as a historical fiction book rather than a purely factually based historical text. Adding in characters, that while fictional, come across as genuine and realistic, both before and after their suffering, helps ground the book in both its and our reality. The text can be hard to read sometimes due to its contents, and those sensitive to abuse may struggle to read this. The Nickle Boys handles dark themes, slavery, racism, death, and abuse, and it isn’t for everyone. It does have its moments of levity and hope, but through and through, the novel is about a dark piece of American history, and those with the interest and stomach will find a wonderful novel documenting it through an imaginative retelling.
