A Corner of the Universe

“Our house looks like one thing, but it is something else altogether.”

With insight into the adult relationships around her, Hattie calls her house an “enigma.” It is both a home and a business. It houses both family, and boarders who are as close as family. It represents Hattie’s parents’ independence from Nana and Papa.

“For now, I just want things all safe and familiar.”

Hattie fears change. Thanks to Adam, Hattie’s self-confidence and her willingness to explore life increase over the course of the novel.

“And she will understand. She always does.”

Miss Hagerty, Hattie’s gentle, loving grandmother stand-in, accepts Hattie’s shyness unconditionally. Hattie’s real grandmother, Nana is less accepting.

“This is the way it always is with my family. Twenty questions. I wish my parents could tell me things straight out.”

Communication is a problem in the Hattie’s family. Hattie prefers direct communication to her parents’ indirect style with their tactful, vague, non-answers.

“If a person is kept secret, is he real?”

Adam has been institutionalized—hidden away for years with little face-to-face contact from his family. Hattie understands that Adam’s identity and individuality have been erased, making him not real to the rest of the world. The stigma of mental illness is dehumanizing.

“Oh, ho, ho, ho!”

Adam’s catchphrase epitomizes the upside of his personality: earnest, exuberant, and inquisitive. The phrase changes notably in intensity when Adam becomes terrified on the Ferris wheel.

‘“Adam, party manners,’ she says quietly.”

Nana insists that Adam follow her rules of decorum, revealing her generational focus on propriety and her fear of negative social stigma.

“I love Angel Valentine for not seeming to notice that there is anything unusual about Adam.”

Angel Valentine, like Miss Hagerty, Mr. Penny, and Hattie, does not treat Adam differently because of his mental illness. Though her opinion of Angel changes after she and Adam walk in on Angel in a sexual situation with her boyfriend, Hattie at first values Angel’s nonjudgmental acceptance of Adam.

“It occurs to me that they must not be getting much out of their churchgoing.”

Bullies Nancy and Janet do not embody Christian charity when they show their prejudice against Adam, despite attending church in their finest clothes. Hattie exposes their hypocrisy, which is representative of many of the townspeople.

“That’s why sometimes I hate our porch.”

Hattie’s porch represents both safety and constraint. Though Hattie enjoys watching the human drama go by from her porch, she also feels excluded from participating in society.

“And aliens don’t belong anywhere […] except in their own little corners of the universe.”

Adam voices the sense of isolation from society that both he and Hattie feel. This connection solidifies their friendship and reveals that they feel safe confiding their darker thoughts and feelings to each other.

“There is nothing like feeling left out.”

Hattie understands, but feels left behind, when Adam seeks Angel Valentine’s company instead of hers. Hattie is also increasingly curious about the differences between friendship and adult partner relationships as she transitions from childhood to adolescence.

“Dad is happy, I am happy, everyone is happy.”

Hattie is often caught in the middle of tense situations between Adam and other adults. By making Adam burp—and smile for the camera—Hattie shrewdly deflects her Dad’s possible censure and mitigates conflict, even though her action is an acquiescence to maintain appearances.

“But at Millerton’s annual Fourth of July band concert, people do not dance. They sit and eat and talk and visit.”

Hattie admires Adam’s joyful celebration of Independence Day, but his actions, which defy Millerton’s well-defined cultural expectations, draw stares and cruel comments. Millerton does not accept Adam’s differences.

“People stare at them because of the way they were born.”

Leila worries about the lives of the sideshow performers at the carnival who are born with physical differences and labeled as freaks. Her empathy for them aligns with Hattie’s feeling for Adam: Both girls accept others despite their differences.

“Everyone has enough friends for a birthday party. Because, you see, you only need one friend for a party. One is enough. Two is enough. Anything is enough.”

Friendship is a significant theme in the novel, and Adam understands the value of a true friend. He, like Hattie, does not have many friends.

“Nana is the queen.”

Hattie likens Nana to royalty because of her air of superiority, wealth, and status. Nana lives up to the comparison with her rigid sense of propriety and control.

“I know Adam is not exactly a child, but he is sort of a child.”

Hattie and Adam are both caught between childhood and adulthood; though for Hattie, this is a temporary development phase. Hattie takes on adult responsibility for Adam, and generally does not think of him as an adult. Adam, though he has the intelligence of a grown man, acts emotionally more like a child. While Hattie will transition to adulthood, Adam’s in-between status is likely a fixed part of his mental illness.

“We are the sun and there is our universe, I am thinking, just as Adam says softly, ‘It’s Neverland, it’s Oz, it’s Nirvana. Oh, it’s the center of the universe.’”

Adam and Hattie feel literally on top of the world as they ride the Ferris wheel. Adam achieves near perfect happiness, but the wheel also replicates life’s changeability. The ride, like life, changes dramatically.

“No one says much, but I can read in their eyes what they think of Adam. They are all glad he’s not related to them, that somebody else has to deal with him.”

The townspeople’s reaction shows they believe the damaging stereotypes about mental illness. They express fear, negative attitudes, and judgment of Adam, and his family.

“Catherine and I have both found out how quickly our world can swing between what is comfortable and familiar and what is unexpected and horrifying.”

Hattie feels a connection to Catherine because of their losses: both of their lives changed abruptly and tragically. Their shared experiences cause them to adopt more mature life perspectives.

“Yes, I loved him. But he was very hard to love.…”

Mom expresses the difficulty she has with showing her love for her little brother, which is tangled up with Adam’s own erratic nature and the conflict between Mom’s desire to please Nana by following her instructions not to visit Adam, and her desire to stay connected with Adam. Forced to choose a middle ground, Mom shows her love for Adam through her unfailing correspondence.

“I remember the tortured look on Adam’s face the night of the Ferris wheel and the look of happiness, happiness, and realize that Adam’s decision to take his life was not made easily. It took a certain kind of courage. Just not the kind of courage I choose.”

Hattie accepts Adam’s difficult decision to commit suicide, understanding that Adam’s unhappiness with his social isolation, his differences, and peoples’ prejudice was too much for him to endure, despite how much he loved life.