Now is the Time for Running

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-7

Part 1, Chapters 8-13

Part 2

Part 3

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Deo’s Soccer Ball

Deo carries a handmade soccer ball filled with money when he leaves Gutu. It remains one of his only possessions throughout the story. The soccer ball initially represents his connection to a home that he has lost forever. His grandfather made the soccer ball for him, and Deo has spent most of his childhood playing soccer with the other children in his village. When he and Innocent are forced to leave Gutu, the soccer ball filled with all the money he can find is the only thing that Deo brings with him.

Although the ball is stuffed full of money, it does the brothers little good because, due to hyperinflation, the Zimbabwean currency holds very little value. Deo carries billions of Zim dollars around with him, but the value of the money is only equivalent to a few US dollars or a few hundred South African rand. While the ball is full of money, Deo’s hopes for his future remain high, but his optimism deflates as he gradually comes to understand how dire his situation truly is. Ultimately, he feels as though he should not possess the money at all because owning anything is dangerous due to The Traumatic Effects of Political Violence that still threaten them every day, so he buries the ball with Innocent’s box. At the end of the book, when Deo finally feels as though he has a future, he returns to dig up the soccer ball and keep it with him once more.

Innocent’s Bix-Box

Innocent’s box of treasures is the most important thing he owns. He adamantly refuses to leave Gutu without the box and his small radio, for both items help him to cope with difficult situations. Ultimately, the box fulfills a similar function for Innocent that the soccer ball does for Deo; it serves the practical purpose of helping him survive and the emotional purpose of connecting him to his home and his family. One of the treasures in Innocent’s box is a photograph of his father; Deo has strong memories of his mother and grandfather, but he has no such memories of his father, which is a point of tension between the brothers.

After Innocent dies, the box takes on a new meaning for Deo. It is now all he has left of his brother. As with many of Deo’s most painful experiences, he deals with Innocent’s death by pushing it out of his mind as much as possible. Burying the box with the soccer ball allows him to distance himself from his traumatic memories of Innocent’s murder. When the book ends and he recovers the box, he is symbolically allowing himself to remember his brother with love once more, and this moment reinforces the theme of The Solidarity of Brotherhood.

Teamwork

Deo and Innocent rely on many other people to help them during their journey, just as they also rely on each other. Not all of those people are trustworthy, but some do prove to be kind and helpful in the brothers’ most critical moments. Their journey proceeds more smoothly whenever they are able to rely on a whole team of people who work together. For instance, crossing the Limpopo River is not something that Deo and Innocent can accomplish on their own. They need a group of people to help them survive the current, and they also need those people to help them run through the game park and escape the wild animals that live there.

In Alexandra Township, Deo and Innocent once again find a team of people: their friends under the bridge. Everyone works together to make it easier to survive. After Innocent’s death, Deo finds a team of young people who steal food and other necessities in Cape Town, but he does not really connect with them as he has with other groups earlier in the story. His final team of the book is his street soccer team. It takes the teammates a while to sort out their differences, but they ultimately manage to succeed at Overcoming Adversity Through Sports. Surviving alone is not a good strategy, but with the help of a team of people working together, Deo manages to see the possibilities for a better future.