The One-In-A-Million Boy

Ona is the emotional and thematic center of The One-in-a-Million Boy. She is an elderly Lithuanian American woman whose life takes an unexpected turn when she befriends a young Boy Scout who later dies. Ona is described vividly when Quinn first arrives at her door, as the encounter shows their mutual hesitation and judgment. The narrative states, “She regarded him peevishly, her face a collapsed apple, drained of color but for the small, unsettling, seed-bright eyes” (4). This imagery is rich with metaphor, and the juxtaposition of life and decay suggests a woman who is worn by time but still very much alive. From the beginning, Ona is framed as someone who resists linear narratives, particularly in her presentation of her own life story. As her background unfolds, both in the past and present, her words reflect the complex dance inherent in The Balance Between Honoring the Past and Embracing the Future.

Through the boy’s curiosity and his passion for keeping records, Ona begins to uncover and relive her past, and she also finds new hope in the future. The boy wills her to share her deepest secrets, including the revelation that she had a son at age 14 and that her tutor, Maud-Lucy, raised him.