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Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter Fifteen
Explanation and Analysis—Kicking the Bucket:
During Chapter Fifteen, in a flash-forward to Elwood's adult life in New York, readers learn that Elwood's memories of Nickel Academy haunt him greatly, to the point that he fears dying with Nickel on his mind. To heighten the sense of trauma present in Elwood's mind decades later, Whitehead utilizes a common idiom:
Die alone in one of his old rooms and what’s the last thing he thinks of before he kicks the bucket—Nickel. Nickel haunting him in his final moment—a vessel in his brain explodes or his heart flops in his chest—and then beyond, too. Perhaps Nickel was the very afterlife that awaited him, with a White House down the hill and an eternity of oatmeal and the infinite brotherhood of broken boys.
Whitehead uses the common idiom “kicks the bucket” to represent death in a non-literal way. To say that someone "kicked the bucket" implies that someone or something has died. In this passage, Whitehead's use of the idiom displays Elwood's profound trauma from his time at Nickel Academy. Even though Elwood is both decades and miles away from Nickel, he will never fully recover from the horrors he endured. In this case, escaping the scene does not guarantee that one will escape its influence or memory. Elwood fears dying with Nickel on his mind because he does not want Nickel Academy to dominate his personal narrative; his life is both worth and about more than his traumatic years at the reform school. But Elwood fears that he will not escape Nickel Academy even in death.
Later in the novel, readers learn that the so-called "Elwood" in this scene is actually Turner, who adopts Elwood's name after his death and lives as Elwood to honor his life. Thus, it is particularly poignant that Turner fears that his memories of Nickel will follow him into death—after all, Elwood never had the opportunity to escape Nickel Academy and turn his present experiences into memories.
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