Themes

The main theme of the short story “Dad, Can I Come Home?” by Malorie Blackman is represented by the horrors of war. A sub-theme is that of acceptance and returning home.

The horrors of war

Even if the story is set in a fictional time in which interplanetary travel is possible, it still depicts the horrors wars bring to humanity. Eve is the captain of a spaceship and, consequently, she must have had a large army under her command. The lives of her crew depended on her and, as any suitable captain would have done, Eve risked her life to save one of her teammates.

Notice that Eve mentions breaking the rules: “And she’s not eligible for artificial limbs because she broke the rules by going back for me.” (p. 86, ll. 2-3)

One of the horrors of this particular war is the rule which forced people to leave their comrades behind. This rule shows that war is based on lack of humanity. Eve could not accept it; she risked her life and returned to save Janice, even if she knew the risks and the possible consequences of her being disfigured. Because she broke the rules, she lost any chance at receiving artificial limbs. Notice that the issue was not even considered for Eve, even if she was in a high ...