Pizza is similar to meatloaf and spaghetti in that it's shared with others and the pieces collectively form one pizza. New York-style pizza, which is round, symbolizes the family circle. So why is Jeffrey “Maniac” Magee allergic to pizza? Doesn’t he want a family?
Understanding Maniac’s Pizza Allergy
Maniac’s allergy surfaces when he’s taking a bath with Hester and Lester Beale. The intimacy of sharing a bath with the children demonstrates that Maniac is indeed part of the family circle. His position in the Beale family is quite different from where he stood at Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan’s.
A circle of sharing and community didn't exist at his former home. Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan hated one another but wouldn't divorce. Pizza serves as a metaphor for the painful aspect of Maniac’s search for a family. Maniac has never eaten pizza before he stays with the Beales. Because he was only three when his parents died, he probably doesn't remember having a family before Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan.
The Pizza Allergy as a Metaphor
Once he finally becomes part of a nurturing family, his allergy surfaces. His pizza allergy is a metaphor for the protection mechanism he’s using to keep from getting hurt. He wants to have a family, but he can’t control his urge to protect himself from being hurt again. Much like an allergy, this urge can’t be prevented — it can only be treated.
Yes, “Maniac love[s] his new life,” but something inside is holding him back (Spinelli 50). In the book The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators (Houghton Mifflin, 2002), Spinelli explains how Maniac “elects homelessness rather than endure the pain of family relationships” as a way of protecting himself (Silvey 232).
Pizza as a Symbol of the Family Circle
When Maniac cares for Russell and Piper, he offers pizza to the boys to lure them back home, to go to school and to do their homework. In this way, Maniac, a father figure, offers the children the circle of a family, which doesn't exist before Maniac’s arrival at the McNab’s. Ironically, when he unties the knot at Cobble’s Corner Grocery in an attempt to gain acceptance within the East End community, Maniac’s reward is free pizza for a year, which he can’t eat.
But the pizza doesn’t bring him together with the community. After the race, when both the white and black gangs taunt him, “Maniac Magee walked — not ran — right on out of town” (Spinelli 76). In this way, the pizza also serves as a metaphor for rejection by Two Mills that signifies he will not gain universal acceptance there.
The Allergy’s Effect on the Perception of Maniac
The pizza metaphor is complicated, but its meaning on the surface is easier for children to digest. What is obvious is that his allergy sets him apart: “Some kids don’t like a kid who is different. Such as a kid who is allergic to pizza. … Or a kid who’s another color” (Spinelli 58). Here, the pizza allergy is a metaphor that demonstrates that Maniac is different from his peers — something children readily notice.
Maniac Magee (ISBN: 0-316-80906-3)
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