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Chapter 20
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Maniac Magee, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Myth, Reality, and Heroism
Racism
Love, Loss, and Home
Human Dignity, Connection, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Cobble’s Corner explodes into celebration. Maniac accepts the certificate for a year’s worth of free pizzas. Mr. Cobble grabs the coiled string, which turns out to be four and a half blocks long. Eventually, though, Amanda grabs a piece of homemade confetti that’s flying through the air. Soon she’s running, grabbing pieces of confetti, and crying, “Oh no!” Maniac follows. At home, he finds her crying, clutching the battered remains of the encyclopedia A volume.
At first, it looks as if Maniac’s triumph will be exactly what Amanda hoped it would be—it endears Maniac to both sides of the Two Mills community and unites everyone in celebration. But the joy is short-lived, as something precious to Amanda has been maliciously destroyed.
Themes
Maniac decides he can no longer put the Beales in a position to get hurt like this. He starts walking. Eventually, he runs into John McNab and the Cobras, hissing threats at him. So he keeps walking down the middle of Hector, drivers yelling and honking at him. On one side of the street, black kids follow him; on the other side, white kids follow him. Both sides yell at him and at each other. In the middle, Maniac walks right out of town.
