56 pages • 1 hour read
Jennifer NivenHolding Up The Universe
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Pages 287-330Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Pages 287-330 Summary
The novel moves forward in timein the section “One Week Later.” Jack has just turned eighteen, so he and Libby set out for Bloomington. Jack continues to find Libby more attractive, thinking that she defies the “sameness” (290) that makes most people difficult for him to recognize. Likewise, Libby’s feelings for Jack deepen, and they share a “moment” (296) when they dance and sing to Jack’s car radio.
At the University of Indiana, Dr. Klein gives Jack a series of tests to determine the extent of his prosopagnosia. She concludes that he has extreme face-blindness possibly caused by his falling off his roof when he was 6, and while she explains there is no cure, there are certain strategies that Jack can use to better recognize people. Meanwhile, Libby decides not to get tested for the hereditary aneurysm. She realizes that “even if there aren’t any aneurisms” in her brain, she will still be “someone who is prepared and on the lookout, because at any moment the earth could stop spinning” (306-07). Libby decides that knowing will not improve the quality of her life.
The ride back to Amos is quiet, at least until Jack confides in Libby that his father is having an affair with Monica Chapman. The two continue to warm up to each other, and when he drops Libby off at her house, Jack tells Libby, “You’re different. You’re you. Always” (322). That night at dinner, Jack contemplates telling his family about the prosopagnosia but decides against it. He heads to the basement to work on Dusty’s robot and then climbs on top of his roof to think about the accident when he was six and “all that’s happened in between then and now” (326). He then calls Libby, and they talk on the phone for two hours about their budding romantic relationship.
Pages 287-330 Analysis
Jack comes to an important revelation during the trip to Bloomington that shows his character’s growth. He observes, “I can see beauty. The more symmetrical the face, the more average the person looks to me because there’s this sameness to them” (290). Here, Jack implies that sameness runs counter to beauty, a notion that challenges the teenage insistence on conformity and being “normal.” The more “normal” a person looks, the less able Jack is to recognize them. He finds Libby beautiful precisely because she stands out, and not just in a physical sense; Jack comments on her gracefulness, her uniqueness, and her quirkiness, all of which are emblematic of her philosophy for living life. Jack finds Libby attractive for the same reason he finds Dusty heroic: both characters embody the confident, self-assured personality that he wishes he had. His feelings are only confirmed as Libby bursts into her spontaneous “dance party” in his Land Rover, and he finds her energy contagious.
Jack feels particularly vulnerable at Indiana University because for the first time, he finds himself surrounded by people whom he knows can see through his outwardly confident façade and recognize his prosopagnosia. In his meeting with Dr. Klein, Jack realizes she is “about to see everything”he is hiding and suddenly feels “naked” (301). This is Jack at his most vulnerable—he can no longer rely on his usual tricks for concealing the prosopagnosia.
In this section, Niven investigates what it means to truly see someone. Libby gradually teaches Jack that seeing someone is a matter of more than just labeling them according to their outward characteristics. However, Jack shows that people often avoid and/or fear being “seen.” More specifically, people—especially teenagers—often feel compelled to hide their true identities not only because they are flawed, but because revealing their true selves leaves them vulnerable. For the first time, Jack knows that he is speaking with someone who can see right through him, and that intimidates him because it exposes him.
