54 pages • 1 hour read
Jonathan EvisonLawn Boy
Jonathan EvisonFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Journey of Identity and Self-Discovery
Mike Muñoz’s identity crisis starts with his growing up on an Indian reservation, even though he is not Native American, but half Mexican. His Mexican father abandoned the family when he was very young. He is left with his Caucasian mother who seems to be struggling with her own identity crisis. She is unable to find the right man, and the “work averse” men marries and quickly divorces do nothing to add any stability or direction to Mike’s life.
Throughout the story, Mike openly articulates his journey of self-discovery. In Chapter 3, he reflects back on his early years and concludes that outside influences and events that helped him to discover himself, not soul-searching:
And maybe I’d tell little Mike to start by looking outside himself instead of within the murky, undefined recesses of his heart. In my experience, a kid doesn’t gain much through introspection. A kid gets more by throwing a ball or wrestling with a dog or burning anthills with a magnifying glass (13).
As the story progresses, the books he reads, the people he interacts with, and his topiary artwork help him to realize who he is.
Mike’s struggle to discover his sexual identity is the most difficult journey for him. Throughout most of the novel, he pursues Remy. Although Remy is obviously open to a relationship with him, Mike hesitates and sends her mixed signals, something that Mike notices and tries to analyze: “What was stopping me from asking this woman out?” (17).
When Mike develops feelings for Andrew, he struggles with transitioning to a new self-identity:
Without moving a muscle, I stared at the ceiling and began to panic, harassed by doubt, hounded by guilt, tormented by my unknown future. My old life seemed irretrievable. What was I supposed to do now? Who would I be disappointing? Who would I be walking away from? Where was I going? Would I be with other men, or was this something specific to Andrew? What were the moral implications of changing my identity, of making my loved ones uncomfortable, of forcing them to accept me? (285).
Mike manages to come out to all the people close to him and even decides to remain friends with his homophobic friend Nick. This implies Mike’s steadfast loyalty.
The Impact of Economic Hardship, Inequality, and Racism
Mike’s landscaping jobs highlight deep class divisions and socioeconomic inequality. Because of rent hikes, Mike’s family is forced to move from one ramshackle place to another on an Indian reservation, and Mike must fix the leaking pipes himself. The images of Mike’s abode contrast sharply with the lavish estates and McMansions of the rich people who hire him to cut their lawns and do landscaping work.
In addition, some of the landscape company’s rich clients treat him poorly and expect him to perform demeaning chores that are not part of his landscaping job, such as cleaning up dog poop. When Mike objects, his boss Lacy says: “Look, every crew needs one, and it turns out you’re my dog-shit guy. Get the hell over there and clean the deck” (35). Mike expresses his contempt for another rich client, Truman, who spies on him constantly while he’s working, forces him to mow the lawn with an old rotary mower, and forbids the use of a radio:
I guess when you’re a big rich, important person, sitting around on your ass, meditating on your big important, rich-guy thoughts, moving your money around in the ‘free market,’ the one built on the backs of slaves and children, you can’t be bothered with noisy lawn mowers. Truman is an uptight little bearded guy about five foot three who’s always home on Tuesdays. I have no idea what he did to become so rich, but my guess is next to nothing (31).
When Mike thinks he is getting a good deal from employers, situations change for the worse. His rich employers are portrayed as manipulative and callous, such as when Doug Goble pays him $23 an hour to do landscaping work on properties he is listing for sale and doesn’t tell Mike that he will only need his services for a short duration. Additionally, while working for Goble, Mike gets an offer from another wealthy homeowner, Piggot, who offers him $29.90 an hour to lure him away from Goble. He is even invited to a party, where one of Piggot’s blueblood relatives tells him that Piggot likes him because he’s “exotic.” However, once Piggot discovers that Mike is no longer employed by Goble, he rescinds his initial offer and offers to pay Mike only $14 an hour because he knows he’s desperate for work. A disgusted Mike quits, deciding he doesn’t want to be an underpaid, exotic serf. Mike never really gets a fair deal until he and his friend Tino decide to launch their own landscaping company at the end of the novel.
The Triumph of Ambition and Dreams
Mike is determined to make something of his life even though he knows that as a “tenth-generation peasant with a Mexican last name” the odds are against him (264). He likes landscaping, writing, and reading, and he dreams of combining these passions to write the great American landscaping novel. However, he must overcome his persistent self-doubts, which he struggles with throughout the novel.
To achieve his dreams, Mike must first believe in himself. He starts his journey from a position of low self-esteem and refers to himself as a “loser” several times in the early part of the novel. The first time is when he compares himself to Doug Goble, the real estate tycoon whom he admires for his “confidence,” “charisma,” and entrepreneurial skills. When Goble abandons their friendship, “I always reasoned it was because I was a loser or maybe just a sucker,” (44) Mike recalls. Later, an adult Mike is embarrassed in front of Remy when he is short of cash while trying to buy a beer. He laments: “Clearly, I was the biggest loser ever. There was the clerk, wearily holding all my nickels and dimes as the line stacked up behind us” (69).
Mike slowly gains confidence as the story progresses. He summons the courage to quit jobs when he realizes his employers are treating him poorly or not dealing honestly with him. In addition, he learns vital skills and lessons even from the severely flawed people that he works for or encounters on his journey. For example, he learns persistence from Chaz, who operates several dubious businesses even though he admits to having no liquid assets. As the police arrest Chaz and take him away, Chaz retains his eternal optimism: “A minor setback, Muñoz, trust me. Nothing to worry about. Stay the course, comrade. Stand by and think big, Muñoz” (126).
By the end of the novel, Mike realizes that other people play crucial roles in helping him achieve his dreams:
Chaz taught me the imperative of thinking big, even when you couldn’t afford to—especially when you couldn’t afford to. And even Doug Goble imparted some wisdom to me, if only in a cautionary way, about the trappings of ambition and the vacuum of the tireless pursuit. The fact is, everywhere I look, somebody has been giving me something (304).
Mike’s relationship with Andrew may be the most valuable, not only on a social level but on a professional one. Andrew encourages him to get his business bonded and insured. Andrew is into lists, and he sits down with Mike and writes a to-do list: “Get bonded. Get licensed. Move out” (284). They also write a places-to-go list: “New Zealand. Disneyland. Dentist” (284). After taking inventory of all the help he has received from Andrew and the other people in his life, Mike concludes that “No man is an island, even if Bainbridge is” (305).
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