Themes

The main themes of the shorts story “Shouting at Cars” by Adam Marek are friendship, the outcast and fear of what is different. Through the insertion of a fantastical character in the story, the author tried to show out of the ordinary aspects of these themes.

Friendship

The theme of friendship is suggested starting with the title of the story, which represents an activity the troll and the child narrator used to do together - shouting at cars. Then, as the story starts, the theme is less obvious at first, and the other two themes become prevalent.

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The outcast

The troll in the story is a symbol of the outcast, of the person that stands out from the crowd and is not accepted by society.

As you have seen, he lives in isolation and has very few human contacts. His scary looks and primitive ways made society consider him an alien, a being that does not belong with them.

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Fear of what is different

This theme is closely connected with that of the outcast. Since the troll is so different from the rest of the people, the other characters fear him. They do not know how to handle him and react anxiously around him, as the attitudes of the narrator’s family show: “By now, we were all quiet and anxious, Dad in front with the hamper, Magda holding Alex’s hand, me behind.” (ll. 17-18)

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