63 pages • 2 hours read
Jack ChengSee You in the Cosmos
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Love and Support of Family
Alex rarely touches on the word family in a direct discussion, yet the book is primarily concerned with the meaning of family. Alex seems unbothered in the early chapters about his lonely life and mother’s condition, and he has no complaints about her lack of involvement in his life nor about Ronnie’s distracted detachment from him. His chattiness, optimism, sense of humor, and inquisitiveness all serve to cover any negativity or fear in him. Readers, however, note subtle clues that suggest Alex lacks not just supervision in his life but love. His mother’s “quiet days,” long walks, and complete disregard for his trip to SHARF alert the reader that she is unable to fulfill Alex’s basic and emotional needs. Alex states only indirectly how much he misses Ronnie, and keeps Ronnie’s side of the room exactly as it was when he left. Sometimes Alex even sleeps in Ronnie’s bed, yearning to be more like Ronnie and, consequently, possess greater capability to care for his mother. Alex claims he can’t miss a father he cannot remember, yet he searches for information about his father on Ancestry.com and makes a sudden decision to search for him in Las Vegas.
Once Alex’s “father quest” replaces his goals at SHARF, new people in Alex’s life rapidly step in to supervisory roles for him as if they are family, demonstrating the closeness, consideration, and care that he was missing. Zed is protective, supportive, encouraging, and instructive to Alex from the beginning of their acquaintance. Steve takes longer to grow to love Alex, but his later actions (returning Carl Sagan to Alex, bringing Alex his favorite food in the hospital, gifting Alex with a prepaid calling card and cell phone) show that he cares about Alex and wants to make up for any unkindness. Though Terra never knew about Alex until he showed up at her house, she feels almost immediately protective of Alex, and continues to care for his needs and serve as the emotional support and love Alex is missing in his life: “That’s my rocket scientist. Now get some rest” (232). Not surprisingly, therefore, he loves her right away and clings to this new connection, referring to her as “my” Terra.
Inspired by Terra’s, Zed’s, and Steve’s connection to Alex, Ronnie realizes he cannot stay away from his family’s needs and makes the hard decision to return to Rockview, where he can better tend to Alex and their mother.
Alex’s family dynamics change drastically over the course of the novel and are inherent to his coming-of-age process and resultant conclusions about people’s interconnected place in the cosmos.
Displaced Responsibility
Responsibility is a general theme throughout the book; for example, Terra begins to question her choice to leave Las Vegas as she approaches Alex’s home: “Like, I’ve been getting voicemails from my manager at the restaurant, asking why I haven’t been in. […] Maybe I should just drop you off in Rockview and go back to Vegas” (207). The more specific theme of “Displaced Responsibility” runs through the novel as well, meaning responsibility that should belong to others but falls on a character who shoulders it out of necessity, kindness, and/or generosity.
Alex paradoxically bears the responsibility of caring for his mother, when it should be the other way around. He cooks meals for the two of them, delivers Ronnie’s messages to her, plans and prepares her meals before he leaves for SHARF, and later wants to care for her so that she can be released from the hospital. Accepting these responsibilities at age 11 brings a feeling and aura of responsibility to Alex beyond his years, which he both feels internally— “And I’m probably at least thirteen in responsibility years!” (142)—and projects externally—“A lot of people were surprised I came here by myself but some of them said, Seeing from your forum posts, I’m not surprised at all” (59). Because these responsibilities are displaced, however, the appearance of maturity is inaccurate; Alex’s behavior and emotional reactions do not match his “responsibility years.”
Zed and Steve are examples of displaced responsibility as well, and the two show two juxtaposed attitudes toward their charge. Zed enthusiastically accepts the responsibility of bringing Alex to SHARF, watches over and helps him with his tent, and spends time with him there. Steve is more concerned than welcoming of his unrequested responsibility, worrying about the backseat mess, the legal issues with taking charge of a minor, and his time. Eventually he grows to enjoy Alex’s presence, makes up for his crude behavior, and appreciates Alex as a positive influence in his life.
Ronnie struggles with his assigned displaced responsibility, assuming he can still care for his mother and brother from a distance. When their family unit is threated by his mother’s developing condition and the involvement from Human Services, Ronnie must accept that in doing what is best for Alex and their mother, he must sacrifice the life and career he established in Los Angeles.
Terra jumps into her role of displaced responsibility easily, caring for Alex in a way that his mother is unable to provide. However, her relationship with her own mother proves to be challenging and, ironically, it is through Alex’s encouragement, that she is able to begin patching things up with Donna.
Dreams Versus Reality
The story shows a gradually evolving contrast between one’s dreams and goals and the tough reality of life. For example, Alex wants to complete his recordings and communicate with intelligent life in outer space via a rocket he puts together from parts ordered on the internet. It is clearly an unrealistic plan; other 11-year-olds might doubt its feasibility. Alex’s natural optimism and sense of hope, however, drive him to pursue this goal. His dream literally and figuratively crashes to Earth at SHARF, and he cries and speaks rudely to the winner of the class competition, finding the failure difficult to process.
A CivSpace employee, Scott, helps Alex to regain sight of the dream, referring to his company’s failed Cloud 1 rocket: “Lander Civet told them that there was no way he was going to give up, and he hoped they wouldn’t either” (72). Alex must continue to face deterrents to his goals, though. Steve, in a moment of fury and frustration that results from his own lost hope of attracting Terra, cruelly tells Alex the rocket dream will never work, insisting that it is better to think and behave realistically in this life and that he, Steve, will be the “IDIOT who’s not just going to feed [Alex] a bunch a false hopes!” (182).
This harsh dose of reality causes emotional torment in Alex again. He cries, says he wants to go home, and falls asleep to escape the “drama.” Later, Terra eases his disappointment and points out how Alex’s pursuit of his dreams is different: “You know what you want. Most people give up on what they want […]” (190). She explains that big dreams are much easier to accomplish with time, great patience, and help from friends.
Alex does not lose hope for finding Carl Sagan, and near the climax of the story, Carl Sagan returns. Bolstered by this fulfilled hope, Alex begins to realize that one’s desires and the reality of life do not have to be mutually exclusive—if one willingly sacrifices. He suggests this regarding climate concerns in the car conversation with Ronnie: “We have to leave Earth so Earth can get better again” (280). Similarly, by the story’s end, Alex is still intent on pursuing his dream to send his Golden iPod recordings to space, but tempers the unrealistic expectation of its immediacy with the decision to take the time to learn more, gain experience, and gather support first.
