Football Genius

“Usually, on a night like that night, the crickets’ end-of-summer song and the moths bumping against the window screen would put him to sleep […] usually, if he was up that late, the water groaning through the pipes while his mom ran her bath would finish him off.”

The beginning of the novel marks a significant change in Troy’s behavior and emerging identity. Before this night, Troy would fall asleep easily, in much the same way a child would, comforted by familiar sounds. By referencing what would ordinarily occur on such a night versus this night, the author hints at the new awakening that is occurring within Troy.

“An owl hooted somewhere close. A rabbit screamed, then went quiet. The crickets stopped, and only the buzz of mosquitoes filled the air.”

Troy’s connection to nature is a recurring motif throughout the novel. By pointing out these sounds, Troy becomes mysteriously associated with nature. Furthermore, the scream of the rabbit hints at a danger that lurks where Troy is travelling, creating a sense of foreboding. The audience realizes Troy is entering into a world of danger.

“He opened his mouth to tell her that it wasn’t a guess, that he somehow just knew. Today, he felt it stronger than he ever had before. Maybe it was because he was right there, on the sideline, seeing it, hearing it, smelling it, living it. The gift inside him felt like a lamp with its shade suddenly pulled off.”

Here it becomes established that Troy’s genius is not something he makes, steals, or needs to develop. It is a natural, instinctive aptitude that simply comes to him. The fact that the gift becomes stronger as his senses identify the people playing the game again suggest that here is a receptivity that Troy has to the universe that is expressed through football.