Reviews of The Nickel Boys

Colston Whitehead's The Nickel Boys aims to tell the story of the boys at Nickel Academy and the horrors that they endure while they are there. In the coming of age novel, Whitehead tells the story of the boys by explicitly stating what happens to them in detail and simultaneously leaving out large portions of other events that happen to them for the reader to fill in. 

In Michael Schaub's review of The Nickel Boys, he states that Whitehead's descriptions of the brutalities the boys at Nickel Academy endure are "necessarily shocking" and that Whitehead writes about the abuse inflicted by the school's staff with a "calm matter-of-factness" that amplifies the horror. Whitehead writes in this calm way throughout the novel and this can be seen when Elwood describes the White House in which the boys are tortured discussing the "splatter on the walls where the fan had whipped up blood in its gusting" (85). The vivid imagery and calmness in which Whitehead presents these facts and details about the room where the boys are tortured are purposeful because Whitehead wants there to be a shock factor to what he is saying. In the novel, it is also stated that Elwood is beat and as a result "the beating had embedded bits of the first [pants] into his skin" (89). Whitehead writes about the abuse by presenting it to the audience in a way that cannot be ignored to tell the stories of the past that have been hidden and forgotten. The way Whitehead articulates the events of the novel suggests that he wants people to be angry and to take a stand, or at least be aware of, all of the voices that have been silenced. 

Emmett Till's parents

The Groveland Four

(Stories of the injustices endured by African American teenagers that have been uncovered. Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy, was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly flirting with a white woman.  The Groveland Four, four African American teenage boys, were accused of raping a 17-year-old white girl in Florida 1949. Two of the four boys were sentenced to death and all four boys were not pardoned until nearly 70 years later, at which time none of the four were alive.)

In Aminatta Forma's review of The Nickel Boys, she states that the depictions of violence are "remarkably understated", which "adds to the book's impact". She discusses the moments when "Whitehead slips over key moments that would seem to beg for more detail" as well as how "Whitehead homes in on how every action fits into the fully orchestrated whole". For example, when Elwood is arrested, Whitehead states "the white deputy...put his left hand on his holster and walked up" (54) and the next part of the novel informs the audience that "Elwood had three last nights at home" (56). Whitehead purposefully chooses not to fill in the blanks of the novel because the audience knows what happens in between the gaps that Whitehead doesn't fill. The story has been told time and time again and people have experienced it so many times that people are aware of the discrimination Elwood faces when he is arrested purely because of his race. By leaving out details, Whitehead forces the reader to think about all of the possible things that could have happened to Elwood and more importantly makes the reader think about the larger implications of how they know what happens without having to be told.