62 pages • 2 hours read
R. J. PalacioAuggie & Me
Fiction | Short Story Collection | Middle Grade | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Outer Space
Items from outer space intertwine to symbolize disappointment in Christopher’s story, “Pluto.” Space becomes their escape from life. After learning about Pluto, it becomes their “favorite planet to travel to” (125). Pluto becomes a haven of the imagination for Christopher and Auggie. When Auggie’s belief in Pluto is shattered, it violates the sense of excitement and safety that Pluto has brought him. When Auggie bursts into tears, Christopher knows how Auggie feels but “couldn’t explain it to them exactly” (163).
His parents’ separation is painful for Christopher. Just like Auggie and Christopher could always depend on Pluto, Christopher thought he could always depend on his family. His parents promised him a special room and a new dog. Instead, he gets a hamster, and the stars from his bedroom keep falling off the ceiling. In the beginning of his narrative, the fallen stars disappoint him: “Mom had put those stars on the ceiling when we first moved in. That was back when she was trying to do everything she could get me to like our new house in Bridgeport” (113). At the end of his day waiting for his mother, feeling abandoned, and then feeling guilt for her accident, Christopher tries to communicate how he feels with his parents when he asks them, “Did you know that a day on Pluto is 153.3 hours long?” (145).
In the end of Christopher’s story, he accepts the unknown in his life. Instead of blaming his mother for his situation, he feels compassion. When Christopher returns to his room at the end of the night, the stars are on his ceiling are glowing brightly. When Christopher sees the fallen star on the floor, he isn’t irritated. Instead, he grabs it and sticks it on his head, symbolically accepting and embracing the life he has, even if it wasn’t what he thought it would be. He thinks of the lyrics to “The Final Countdown,” a song about leaving Earth for Venus, not knowing whether you will return: “I guess there is no one to blame. We’re leaving ground. Will things ever be the same” (176). While Christopher has felt “Plutonian tears” (164) of disappointment just like Auggie, he forgives his parents for the uncertainty he feels.
Venn Diagrams
Venn Diagrams are a recurring motif in Charlotte’s story, “Shingaling.” These diagrams represent the insecurity and comparison with others that Charlotte struggles with. Entire chapters show the various diagrams she draws comparing herself to others. She first shows a diagram of how she and Ellie were in first grade, showing how much they had in common (196). On the next page, she shows how they now have more differences than similarities. This diagram represents how insecure she is in their friendship.
In Chapter 58, she draws a diagram contrasting her, Maya, and the other three classmates at their lunch table, Lina, Megan, and Rand. The only thing that all of them have in common is that they play the dots game and are “not popular” (209). When Charlotte starts bonding with Summer and Ximena over their “Shingaling” production, she draws a Venn diagram with “shingaling, loves dogs, on honor roll” (262). Importantly, as Charlotte becomes more secure in herself and her friendships, regardless of what they mean for her popularity, her Venn diagrams disappear from her narrative. This represents how she has stopped comparing herself to others for validation.
Adults and Children
Throughout the novel, the motif of the world of adults and children shows how adults can forget the emotional complexity of children, and that the support provided by adults can make a tremendous impact on a child’s wellbeing. Throughout the novel, adults underestimate the intensity of a child’s experience. Julian tries to explain that seeing Auggie gives him nightmares, but his mother doesn’t believe him. When he bursts into tears, she hugs him, but is “kind of surprised” (24). When Auggie is upset about Pluto not being a planet, his parents are bewildered. Similarly, Christopher’s father doesn’t see how upset Christopher is not to have found out about his mother’s car accident. His father assures him that there wouldn’t have been anything that Christopher could have done, clearly not understanding how anxious Christopher was that day.
Auggie & Me also shows how adults can help or harm children as they handle big emotions. Some adults, like the Albans, assume that children need to be sheltered. Mrs. Albans is horrified that Julian was exposed to a person with a facial difference and insists that, “They’re just too young to be exposed to this kind of stuff!” (31). Rather than walk Julian through his difficult emotions, she tries to remove him from them. In contrast, Mr. Tushman believes that children can navigate complex situations, if they are supported. He doesn’t throw Julian, Charlotte, and Jack into meeting Auggie blindly. Telling them the context of the situation, he affirms that it might make them nervous, but that it’s okay—they can still be kind. Rather than ignore difficult emotions, adults like Mr. Browne and Grandmère encourage Julian to explore his feelings. Other adults simply provide comfort for the children in their lives. Isabel Pullman notices Christopher’s distress before he even expresses it and talks to him while prompting his father to come comfort him. The narrative shows that children are capable of deep feelings and that the way adults interact with them plays a significant role in their emotional development.
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By R. J. Palacio
