Family secrets
The center of the novel is a boy's journey into understanding the IRA and its effect on his family when his uncle Eddie was murdered in a hit for being an informant. By the end of the novel, the boy decides on his own that actually, the facts seem to point to Eddie's innocence, but throughout the novel, the boy fights to learn more from his family who never want to talk about Eddie. It's as if he has been left out of his own family's family secret, and this makes him feel ostracized.
Religious superstition
The boy's mother suffers from delusions and severe depression, and they get worse over time. Eventually the boy begins to wonder whether it is the woman's attachment to a very superstitious Christianity that's really the problem. Suddenly, her own teachings seem to tell the boy that his own mother has a demon, but instead of believing his mother is possessed, he decides that he doesn't feel the same way about her religion. He notices that there are as many religious opinions as there are people, and there isn't a strong logical reason for him to adopt his mothers—especially if she ended up being mentally afflicted by her thoughts about demons and ghosts haunting her.
Terrorism and the state
Because many people regarded the mission of the IRA as a worth-while endeavor, many were willing to turn a blind eye when the IRA's method's became less and less ethical. Their vigilante justice system led to the untimely death of an innocent man (in the boy's estimation).
