Influences In The Novel The Nickel Boys By Martin Luther King Jr.

The Nickel Influences

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now”. Elwood Curtis and Jack Turner, the main characters in the novel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, both have very different views on life. Elwood is idealistic and Turner is realistic but even so, they become best friends. The boys are sent to Nickel Academy, an unjust, trauma-inducing reform school, due to unfair experiences. At the beginning of the novel, Whitehead compares Elwood's hopefulness and Turner's realism predicated on their pasts and influences; they eventually grow to adopt each other's views as a result of their shared trauma, ultimately proving that through circumstances, friendships have a

First, Elwood’s utopian view of life is formed by his attainments from influences. Prior to Elwood going to Nickel Academy he was very gullible, which is shown by Whitehead when he states, “[t]he boy was intelligent and hardworking and a credit to his race. But Elwood could be thick-witted when it came to the simplest things. He didn't know when to stand back and let things be” (Whitehead 24). In this chapter, Whitehead juxtaposes “intelligent” and “thick-witted” to insinuate that Elwood can be knowledgeable but oblivious when learning about inequality. Additionally, “a credit to his race” is jargon used by people in the 50s and 60s that was used to tell people to stay out of trouble and be good kids, developing his character prior to Nickel. The author tries to insinuate that Elwood is ignorant and inexperienced with life. The phrase “he didn’t know when to stand back” explains Elwood’s visionary view influences him from his experiences with inequality. On the contrary, as a result of Turner's past experiences with injustice, he is more sensible. While Turner is frustrated with Elwood’s ambitious perspective on humanity, he states his ideas on the topic. Turner says, “‘[t]he key to in here is the same as surviving out there—you got to see how people act, and then you got to figure out how to get around them like an obstacle course. If you want to walk out of here (82)’”. In

Later, as a result of his relationship with Turner, Elwood develops Turner’s pragmatic views. After his experience in the white house and his conversation with Turner, Elwood reconsiders his initial thoughts on dealing with justice. The author says, “[h]e came up with a scheme that combined Turner’s advice with what he’d learned from his heroes in the movement. Watch and think and plan… Let the world be a mob- Elwood will walk through it… Bloodied and tired, but he’d make it through” (86). Whitehead uses “heroes and Turner” to exemplify that Turner is influencing Elwood to start viewing the injustice. Additionally, Elwood is more accepting of the truth of the injustice through his experience with being beaten and Turner’s lesson. Whitehead creates an image of a beaten-up person through the words “bloodied and tired” to indicate that Elwood's views have changed with the help of Turner because he is not so naive believing that everything will be “ok” and nothing poor will ever happen. Furthermore, due to unfortunate events, Turner begins to embrace his friend's view through leadership. After Elwood’s death, Turner decides to speak out against Nickels' injustice. Whitehead states, “[h]e stopped being the desperate alley cat of his youth and turned into the man he thought Elwood would have been proud