Baseball
This book is an imaginative exploration of many of the themes that are native to Baseball as a sport, like teamwork, patience, and execution. Many of the thematic ideas are easy to access through Baseball metaphors, and in his battle against Satan the Coyote, the young hero finds that through his diligent baseball practice and play, he has what it takes to "un-curse" the earth. Baseball is clearly a metaphor for skill, but the novel is clearly an indication that the author finds something transcendent and beautiful about the sport.
Religious mythology
This long narrative poem paints the character within a myth (explaining the mythic poetic form), and the myth is not some minor story of some minor god in the Greek pantheon—this young boy finds himself smack dab in the middle of human fate, up against the very devil himself, symbolized to the boy by a coyote whose carnivorous nature serves as a metaphor the boy about what forces he should align himself with. This process is a portrait of the boy's developing religion.
Friendship
Without his friends Cutbelly, Jennifer, and Thor, how could Ethan have survived this plot? The novel is showing that even as an epic hero, Ethan is not above his community. In fact, he depends on others for his success and for his very survival. The portrait shows that friendship is not a minor or auxiliary endeavor. It is essential to Ethan's success in life.
