The Nickel Boys Caroline Quotes

Turner Turns Around Helen Keller once said, “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light”. In the novel, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, one of the main characters Turner learns about the importance of friendship. Turner’s story starts when he meets Elwood in Nickel Boys Academy, a corrupt place filled with many secrets that are kept from the outside world. After meeting Elwood, Turner changes in many ways. At the beginning of the novel, Turner is self-centered but eventually grows to care for others which illustrates how friendships can impact one’s life.
Whitehead conveys that Turner is self-centered by revealing Turner’s way of thinking. The first way Turner is self-centered is that he believes individualism

When Turner goes to the hospital, he sees Elwood and starts talking to him. At the end of Turner’s stay at the hospital, he decides to give Elwood some advice, Whitehead writes, “‘[w]alk out of here,’ Turner corrected. ‘You think you can do that? Watch and think? Nobody else is going to get you out----just you’” (Whitehead 82). Whitehead uses the phrase “Nobody else is going to get you out---just you” to introduce a demanding tone. He firmly believes that solidarity is the only way to survive. Additionally, Whitehead uses the imagery of “Watch and think” to illustrate Turner’s thinking. Even if he is in a position to help, he would much rather sit and observe, because that’s how he thinks he can survive. The second way that Turner is self-centered is that he doesn’t trust others. When Elwood and Turner were walking in the town, they started to talk about ways they would escape, Whitehead

Due to this guilt, Turner decides to help Elwood for the first time. Furthermore, the phrase“fu** it” creates a tone of carelessness. It also reveals Turner is trying to hide that he wants to help, he is making excuses to make it seem that he is doing it out of pity. He still wants to be seen as independent. The second way Whitehead portrays Turner as caring is that he sacrifices himself in order to help others. At the end of the novel Turner, posing as Elwood, goes back to Florida after Nickel’s secrets were found out. Turner is contemplating whether to join the other survivors' efforts to testify against Nickel. Whitehead writes, “he had to go back. To speak about Elwood’s story, no matter what happened to him . . . What happens will happen” (209). Whitehead decides to include the remark “speak about Elwood’s story” in order to emphasize the impact Elwood had on Turner. If Turner never was friends with Elwood, then he would not have shared his experience at Nickel. He would “Stand and Watch”. The expression “what happens will happen” shows Turner’s sacrifice just to help the people at Nickel. This is a major improvement from trying to hide that he is helping his friend to publicly trying to help everyone at Nickel. Altogether, Turner’s multiple acts of kindness have shown he has grown from his friendship