About a Boy - Analyse

Uddrag

About a Boy' is a novel written by English writer Nick Hornby that deals heavily with the themes of how we grow and develop as people alongside modern ideas of family life.

The novel is chiefly set in various locations of the English capital of London. The book opens by focusing on the life of Marcus, a twelve year old boy who has very recently moved to London with his mother, Fiona. London is shown by Hornby as being a much more daunting and unnerving place than place than Marcus' former home of Cambridge, and in his new surroundings he feels isolated and confused. Describing Marcus' perspective on his new home, Hornby writes that “It wasn't so bad in Cambridge, because there were loads of kids who weren't right for school, and loads of mums who had made them that way, but in London it was different. The kids were harder and meaner and less understanding”. Not only is Marcus' school life difficult, but his home life is also shown to be somewhat chaotic, the novel opening with a description of Fiona's breakup with a boyfriend. The more chaotic setting of London is contrasted with the more secure, “normal, boring kind” of life, to present an environment where Marcus must grow and adapt to survive. This is central to the theme of personal development that is prevalent in the book. The setting of Wills'
flat is also important in this, being the place of retreat for Marcus from his tormentors and a place the influences him to change as a person. The fact that Marcus' family is split across cities is also increasingly typical in modern families and is one device used to examine ideas about family today.
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