"The War" - its a term that people usually use for a large battle, perhaps even one of the world wars. But in the case of the young, 12 year old narrator of One of the Boys, it is the name for the divorce happening between his father and his mother, which has been going on for quite some time. Why are the two getting divorced? The boy's father is especially abusive, and she can't live with him anymore. However, this means that the narrator will have a hard time living with his father, who has escaped the wrath of Child Protective Services one too many times.
The book begins when the unnamed narrator of the novel, twelve years old, is punching himself in the face. This isn't some sort of mental issue that the boy has - instead, his father, who should be stopping him from such behavior, is practically forcing him to do it. If the boy beats his face, then the father will not have to, and he can claim that the mother is the one beating the boys. Then, the father will gain custody of his two sons when the divorce is made official.
The term "One of the Boys" is often used to reference mischief, but in this case, it is extreme. By becoming one of the boys, the narrator is devoting himself to a life of lies, drugs, and ultimately may become just like his father. Later on, the reader finds out that, along with being abusive, the father is addicted to drugs.
The father in the novel continuously asks the boys to do things that someone as immature as they are would simply do without question. He drills into their mind, like followers of a cult, that he is a good father and is only there to love them. Of course, he says, there will be difficulties along the way, but don't let that stop you. He emotionally toys with them to make them support him when he is obviously in the wrong, and this type of manipulation is something that the boys will never be able to recover from in adulthood.
Although the boys know that something is wrong, they don't really have the choice to defend themselves. It is as if their father is an absolutist ruler, with complete control over their lives. Many readers find it hard to bear that this level of abuse can and does happen in the real world, but Magariel wanted to let people know that there are still ways to combat it.
