Using Food to Portray Characters in Maniac Magee

How Food Illustrates Characters’ Personalities and Emotions

Apr 13, 2009

Jerry Spinelli's use of food as a metaphor to illustrate the personality and inner emotions of the characters pervades Maniac Magee.

There’s more to Mars Bar Thompson’s nickname than his penchant for the candy bar. His chocolate “cigar” demonstrates his role as a leader of the Cobras with tough, adult-like street smarts. Early in the novel, readers meet Mars Bar the antagonist. He represents the racial “war” that the East and West Ends are fighting. If the East End is going to become more accepting of white people, Mars Bar will lead the change and others will follow.

From Mars Bar to Snickers

Mars Bar’s nickname changes at the end of the novel. When Amanda Beale changes his nickname to Snickers, it’s a metaphor for the change that has occurred within the character: Mars Bar is trading in his antagonism toward Maniac and the West End for a lighter attitude of acceptance, and the new nickname “Snickers” emerges.

While the candy bar plays a major role in illustrating character, it also highlights the racial segregation that exists in Two Mills. When Jeffrey “Maniac” Magee and Mars Bar meet, Maniac does the “unthinkable” by taking a bite of Mars Bar’s candy bar. Spinelli uses this scene to illustrate the racism in Two Mills:

“Not only that, but white kids just didn’t put their mouths where black kids had had theirs, be it soda bottles, spoons, or candy bars. And the kid hadn’t even gone for the unused end; he had chomped right over Mars Bar’s own bite marks” (Spinelli 34).

Using Food to Reveal Racial Stereotypes

Food also plays a role in Maniac’s attempts to show Grayson that blacks on the East End are “just regular people” (Spinelli 88). Grayson’s ignorance is on display when he asks Maniac if black people eat mashed potatoes (Spinelli 87). When Maniac realizes Grayson is serious, he uses a variety of foods, including potatoes, meatloaf, peas, corn and cake, to prove to Grayson that black and white people are alike. In this way, Spinelli uses food as a vehicle to illustrate the commonalities between the races.

The Power of Food

Spinelli’s use of food as a metaphor helps to construct family, identity and race in Maniac Magee, but he also uses food to remind readers of their common needs. Maniac’s quest for food and survival parallels his search for a loving home. He’s searching for two things everyone needs: sustenance of the heart and body. In the end, Maniac finds them both.

The copyright of the article Using Food to Portray Characters in Maniac Magee in Children’s Books is owned by Tricia Masenthin. Permission to republish Using Food to Portray Characters in Maniac Magee in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.