37 pages • 1 hour read
Stephen KelmanPigeon English
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Religion
The idea of faith in a higher being or power penetrates the entire novel. The Jubilee Center where Harri and his family worship is not a traditional church space, but it is a sanctuary for Harri because of the community that meets there every week. Coming over from Ghana, having this community is in many ways a connection to his past life there. While none of his good friends are religious, this does not deter Harri from continuing his own relationship and understanding of God. Much of Harri’s internal logic and reasoning connect to his beliefs and he has a hyperaware conscience. In the moments when he witnesses the violence and bad attitudes in persons like those in the Dell Farm Crew, he considers how different they would be if they only had more knowledge of God and Jesus.
Gang Violence and Emotional Abuse
Gang violence is prevalent in Harri’s new neighborhood, something he is quite unaccustomed to, but he is forced quickly to learn the “rules” in order to more safely and intelligently navigate his environment. There is a continual push and pull between groups and individuals, where one side is kept under foot. Whether it be the Dell Farm Crew against Harri and his friends, Miquita against Harri or Lydia, Julius against Auntie Sonia, or the magpies against Harri’s Pigeon, there is a constant battle waged through physical, mental and emotional abuse. Harri carefully observes these individual relationships that showcase the hard realities of mental and emotional abuse. When he thinks about Miquita’s relationship with Killa and how he constantly burns her with his lighter to secure her “admiration,” Harri feels sorry for them, thinking about his own relationship with Poppy and how he would never exert power over her to win her affection. This has a trickle-down effect as well, as Miquita tries similar tactics to keep Lydia under her power and control. In the case of Auntie Sonia and Julius, Auntie Sonia, out of fear, blames herself for her injuries, hesitant to create what she thinks will be more violence should she go against Julius’ wishes and desires.
Immigration and Assimilation from Innocence to Experience
Harri’s journey to assimilate into his new environment has to happen on multiple levels. Besides being a Ghanaian immigrant dealing with cultural and language barriers, he is also an eleven-year old boy in a new school, which comes with its own challenges. He is slowly adopting the slang, saying words like “bo’ styles” (cool), and “hutious” (scary), amongst others. He keeps mental lists of all the schoolyard rules he needs to remember and takes note of everyone’s different idiosyncrasies in his group of friends and the adults he encounters in the neighborhood. He must adjust to the social hierarchy that is in place, especially in order to recognize the threat of the Dell Farm Crew. At the same time, as he continues to witness and better understand how people interact and relate and how that alters a sense of trust, he retains and builds more strongly on his core beliefs.
