If I Ever Get Out of Here

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Part 1, Chapters 4-7

Part 2, Chapters 8-10

Part 2, Chapters 11-13

Part 2, Chapters 14-17

Part 3, Chapters 18-20

Part 3, Chapters 21-23

Part 3, Chapters 24-26

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Quiz

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Racism Toward Native Americans

Throughout the novel, Lewis faces racism as a Native American. Growing up, Lewis heard tales of the notorious boarding schools, whose motto was “Kill the Indian but save the man” (108), and of the mistreatment and abuse that many, including his grandparents, suffered at the hands of racist teachers and administrators. Much of Lewis’ earlier life was spent in relative isolation on the reservation. It is until he reaches junior high that he begins to contend with racism on a personal level.

At school, he increasingly must come face to face with people who dislike him simply because of his ethnicity. At one point he comments on this realization, saying, “All this time, I thought I had been the problem, not my address” (19). From this point onward, three archetypes of racial discrimination emerge: The first type, and the type that features least in the novel, is the passive type of racism wherein someone doesn’t like and ignores Lewis simply because he is Native American. Artie and Stacey display this sort of dislike for Lewis. However, toward the end of the novel, Stacey realizes her racist behavior toward Lewis and apologizes. Stacey was influenced through the beliefs and words of others that connoted racial aversion to Native American, which is the second archetype of racial discrimination.

Summer and Mr. Doyle are examples of the passive-aggressive archetype. Summer demonstrates this best when she convinces Rose to ask her dad for only enough concert tickets for everyone but Lewis. Summer doesn’t simply avoid Lewis the way a passive racist would do, she actively, though in a subtle way, selects Lewis for discrimination. Mr. Doyle subscribes to the belief that Native American students are troublemakers, therefore, he believes Evan’s story over Lewis’ account of events.

Evan and his family embody the third archetype: They openly despise all Native Americans, and as soon as Lewis comes between Evan’s crosshairs, Evan uses violence and bullies Lewis relentlessly. Lewis remarks on this course of open racism when he states “almost five hundred years of my people being wiped out by their people had found its way onto my doorstep at last” (196).

True Friendship

A common difficulty faced by nearly all young adults is navigating the social landmines of junior high and high school. Carson and George are the two boys who teach Lewis the difference between acquaintance and best friend.

Lewis grew up with Carson on the reservation, and because it is a small reservation, there aren’t many children around who are Lewis’ age. Lewis discusses not having any friends at school. He admits, however, to having a class with Carson, but they don’t sit or talk with one another in class, which seems an odd thing for friends to do. The reader quickly understands that Carson and Lewis are friends simply because of circumstance, that they are both Native Americans living on a reservation. Carson takes advantage of Lewis and the situation to get what he wants out of him. Carson is friendly with Lewis when it suits him. At one point, after having met and befriended George, this situation becomes apparent to Lewis, and he even says of Carson: “I’d had it with his bullshit. The rez was a small place, so I was stuck with him, but it didn’t mean I had to be his fool forever” (86).

George, on the other hand, offers Lewis an example of what a true friend is. In the first few days of getting to know one another, George already offers Lewis a new take on the meaning of friendship: “I liked that George had nothing to gain by his comments, other than being of help to a friend. It was a first for me” (24). Lewis and George’s friendship is balanced, wherein both boys do things for the other and reciprocate in a manner that has nothing to do with quid pro quo. In the instances wherein their friendship is unbalanced, such as when Lewis doesn’t invite George over to his place, it has nothing to do with the friendship itself, rather with Lewis’ family’s shame at their level of poverty and the state of their house.

Through his friendship with George, Lewis learns that honesty is an important aspect of true friendship. While this honesty is put to the test with regard to Lewis’ poverty and Mr. Haddonfield’s transfer to Texas, and thus, George’s eventual departure, the truth between the two cannot remain buried. When the truth finally emerges by use of the snowstorm trope, their friendship is only strengthened.

The Unifying Nature and Healing Power of Music

Music features heavily in the novel. Each part and chapter contains one or more songs from the Beatles or Wings that support the theme of that part or chapter. The author emphasizes that music can express sentiments between vastly different individuals. The fact that a young Native American can find emotional and thematic parallels between his situation and lyrics written by the Beatles and Paul McCartney, a group of white Englishmen, provides strong support of the notion that music possesses an innate unifying quality.

There are many reasons why Lewis is close to his uncle Albert, and their shared love of the Beatles is one of them. A shared love of the Beatles also brings George and Lewis into initial contact with one another. From this shared interest, they can move ahead and discover other similarities and interests and become good friends. Furthermore, Lewis remarks on this unifying quality when he attends a Wings concert in Toronto with the Haddonfields. The treatment Lewis receives from the other concert-goers contrasts Summer and Rose’s earlier racist treatment when they tried to sabotage his attendance. Lewis says of the crowd and the concert: “The strangers around me made me one of them. It was almost like being home on the reservation, and I let myself enjoy the surging excitement” (156). In this way, Lewis can finally feel like everyone else and not be singled out because of his Native American ethnicity.

Music also allows Lewis to heal during difficult times. When George begins spending more time with Stacey, Lewis turns to the guitar and begins taking lessons with the Bug. However, this aspect is minor in comparison to the healing Lewis receives from his guitar and albums after George moves away. In the last paragraph of the novel, Lewis listens to the Beatles album from the Haddonfields and fades out of the story playing “Two of Us” on his guitar.