Becoming Injustice In The Nickel Boys By Colson Whitehead

Becoming Aware of your surroundings
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead is a novel about a fourteen year old boy named Elwood, a standout student, who is wrongfully arrested and sent to a correctional center called Nickel Academy. Throughout Elwood’s life he is faced with many injustices. Elwood becomes aware of himself after being taken advantage of at the hotel, he then becomes aware of society after being wrongfully arrested for stealing a car, and he finally becomes aware of the environment at Nickel after being wrongfully beaten. These injustices make Elwood become aware of himself, society and the environment.
Elwood initially believes that everything happening at the hotel is innocent but later becomes aware that he is being taken advantage

Elwood is accused of stealing the car because of the colour of his skin. After the deputy catches him in a stolen car he automatically assumes that he has stolen the car and says that “Only a nigger’d steal that”(43). Even without any proof that Elwood had actually stolen the car, he is accused and later arrested for a crime that he did not commit because of his skin colour. Furthermore, Elwood has been a very kind person and had never done anything wrong before the previous incident. Before the incident, Elwood is even told by a PhD graduate that he is “the type of student they came up with this for”(40) while talking about advanced courses. During his arrest, his reputation as an extraordinary student and very respectful person is not even considered. Lastly, Elwood’s encounter with the police makes him aware of his role in society. On the ride back to the police station, Elwood “didn’t speak for two hundred and seventy five miles”(45). Elwood not arguing about being wrongfully arrested demonstrates that he is aware of his role in society as a young black man. He is aware that as a young black man there is nothing that he can say or do to change the deputy’s mind. Thus, the following incident makes Elwood aware of the state of the society during this time

Initially, He does the morally correct thing to do and still gets in trouble. Elwood saw a kid getting bullied in the bathroom and “stepped up when (Elwood) saw something that was wrong”(64). Elwood thought that he had saved the kid from getting hurt and would avoid being in trouble, but instead has put himself into trouble. Additionally, he was new to Nickel Academy and did not know the rules, yet was still given a beating. Elwood also did not know that it was “best not to interfere in other people’s violence at Nickel”(64). As Elwood was still new at the Academy he did not fully understand the rules, even though the leaders had known that they were still treating him worse than they treated the students who had been at Nickel for multiple years. Finally, after the beating Elwood becomes aware of the environment at Nickel Academy. While Elwood is in the hospital he realizes that “There was no system at all at Nickel”(68). He is now aware of the rules and the punishments at Nickel, and now understands that the environment is strict and that there is no such thing as reasoning or fairness. Elwood’s punishment for doing the right thing contributes to his awareness of the environment at Nickel