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Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Orbiting Jupiter, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Parenthood
Adolescence and Responsibility
Prejudice
Trauma and Trust
Friendship and Love
Summary
Analysis
On New Year’s Day, Joseph and Jack are shoveling snow off the farm paths when Joseph throws snow at Jack. They have a snow fight, and Jack marvels as he watches Joseph smile and laugh. During a merry New Year’s dinner, the phone rings, and everyone gets serious: they’ve been waiting to hear news of Jupiter. But when Mrs. Hurd answers the phone, it’s Mr. Brook. After a testy conversation, Mrs. Hurd gives the phone to Joseph and explains to Mr. Hurd and Jack that Mr. Brook has hired a lawyer and secured visitation rights—and plans to come on Monday. After Joseph hangs up, Mr. Hurd asks whether he’s all right. Joseph says he’s going to check whether Rosie the cow has enough hay, then he flees.
Joseph flees to Rosie the cow after he learns of his father’s upcoming visit. Since Joseph relies on Rosie for utterly unprejudiced animal affection and comfort, his fleeing to her shows how much he fears and dislikes his abusive father.
Themes
For the rest of vacation, the Hurd house is full of dread. On Monday, when Jack and Joseph return from school, a van that says BROOK PLUMBING and a DHHS car are parked out front. The boys enter the house and see Mr. Hurd, Mrs. Hurd, Mrs. Stroud, and Mr. Brook. Mr. Brook announces that he’s going to take Joseph for a drive, but Mrs. Stroud tells him that he and Joseph must stay at the Hurds’ house. Annoyed, Mr. Brook leads Joseph into the empty living room with a hand on his back. Joseph recoils but goes with his father.
Whereas Joseph now trusts Mr. Hurd enough to not to flinch when Mr. Hurd touches his back, he still displays a trauma response when Mr. Brook touches his back. Joseph’s flinch emphasizes that Joseph does not trust his father and reminds readers that Mr. Brook has physically abused Joseph in the past.
Themes
Mrs. Stroud apologizes to the Hurds, saying that she recommended against Mr. Brook getting visitation, but his lawyer finagled it. When Mr. Hurd asks what Mr. Brook wants, Mrs. Stroud says he wants money: his lawyer is claiming that Joseph, as a minor, couldn’t sign away parental rights. Mr. Brook would have to sign those rights away on Joseph’s behalf, and he won’t until Madeleine’s parents pay him off. Madeleine’s parents want Jupiter adopted so they can get closure, but no prospective parents will attempt a contested adoption.
When Mr. Brook first showed up at the Hurds’, he assumed that Jack was a foster child because he was doing chores and accused Mr. Hurd of exploiting foster children for free labor. In this passage, readers see that Mr. Brook was judging Mr. Hurd by his own lights: Mr. Brook is trying to exploit Joseph’s paternity to get money without considering Joseph’s wishes or best interest.
Themes
After a pause, Mr. Hurd sends Jack out to do the afternoon milking. Hearing yells, Jack reenters the house and finds Joseph backed against the wall. Mr. Brook, meanwhile, is yelling at Mr. Hurd that he has rights to his son and won’t kowtow to rich people. Mrs. Stroud ineffectually tries to quiet him. Then Mr. Brook yells that the Hurds are only fostering Joseph for the money. He turns and asks Joseph whether he knows that the Hurds get a check for fostering him.
Joseph puts his back to the wall when Mr. Brook starts yelling, emphasizing that the abusive Mr. Brook activates Joseph’s trauma responses. When Mr. Brook explicitly accuses the Hurds of fostering Joseph for the money, meanwhile, it makes clear that Mr. Brook can’t conceive of unselfish parenting—he judges all parents according to his own cynical selfishness.
Themes
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Mr. Hurd walks to a desk in the hallway, pulls out some papers, returns, and shows them to Joseph. He explains that the papers are statements from a bank account in Joseph’s name where the Hurds have been depositing the money they receive from the state. Mrs. Hurd clarifies that they intend it to be Joseph’s college fund. Mr. Brook asks derisively whether the Hurds think Joseph is going to go to college as if he’s “smarter than his dad.” Mrs. Hurd insists that all Joseph’s teachers think he’s going to college.
Here readers learn that Mr. and Mrs. Hurd have saved all the money they receive from the state for Joseph’s college fund rather than using it to pay for the food, clothes, etc. that they provide Joseph. Their decision to pay for Joseph’s immediate needs themselves and start a college fund for him with the state’s money shows their unselfish, loving parenting style. By contrast, Mr. Brook’s defensive and resentful response, suggesting that Joseph can’t go to college lest he think he’s “smarter than his dad,” shows his fundamentally selfish approach to parenting.
Themes
Mr. Brook laughs, insisting that the teachers don’t know what they’re talking about. He says he’s going to take Joseph away eventually because “a father’s got rights.” Mr. Brook asks the Hurds how they’d react if someone took Jack away. He walks to Jack and grabs his shoulder. Joseph tells Mr. Brook not to touch Jack, and Mr. Hurd begins walking quickly toward them. Then Mr. Brook, laughing, suggests he’s proved his point. He tells Joseph that he’ll free him from the Hurds soon, but he also warns Joseph not to tell him what to do ever again.
When Mr. Brook claims that the teachers who think Joseph will go to college don’t know what they’re talking about, he implies that Joseph is not academically gifted—and even that Joseph is stupid. This claim hints that Mr. Brook is verbally as well as physically abusive. Notably, Mr. Brook focuses only on his “rights” as a father and not on his responsibilities toward Joseph—which he has clearly failed to fulfill. Joseph’s demand that Mr. Brook not touch Jack shows Joseph’s friendship and protective attitude toward his foster brother.
Themes
Mr. Brook leaves. In the ensuing silence, Jack suggests he should finish milking. When he goes back to the barn, Joseph goes with him. Rosie the cow moos lovingly at Joseph, perhaps intuiting that he needs emotional support. Later, at dinner, Joseph asks Mrs. Hurd whether he’ll actually go to college. Mrs. Hurd replies that Mr. D’Ulney and Mrs. Halloway will be angry at the Hurds if he doesn’t. Joseph smiles.
Rosie the cow seems to have an almost preternatural understanding of Joseph’s personality and emotional needs, an understanding that lends authority to her unprejudiced positive judgment of Joseph. When Joseph smiles at Mrs. Hurd’s response to his question, it shows that he has come to trust his foster parents’ judgments about his academic potential and his future.
Themes
The next day, Joseph and Jack are happy, anticipating that the Hurds will help Joseph see Jupiter and attend college. But more days pass without any officials agreeing to let Joseph see Jupiter, though the Hurds petition Joseph’s counselor and Mrs. Stroud. One afternoon, Mrs. Stroud has a meeting with Mr. Hurd, Mrs. Hurd, and Joseph in the kitchen while Jack is out milking.
Jack as well as Joseph is happy about Joseph going to college and getting to see Jupiter: Jack, a true friend, is happy due to his foster brother’s happiness. But yet again, the people in the novel who represent institutional power—e.g. Mrs. Stroud, who represents the DHHS—don’t know how to handle Joseph as a genuinely loving parent who nevertheless can’t be legally responsible for his child.
Themes
When Joseph joins Jack in the barn, Jack asks whether Mrs. Stroud told him anything. Joseph replies that Jupiter is in Brunswick. He asks Jack whether Brunswick is south of Eastham. Jack says yes and is about to say something else when Joseph asks him to please stop talking about it. The next day, Joseph doesn’t meet Jack to take the bus home. Jack assumes Joseph decided to walk, but when Jack gets home, Joseph isn’t there. Mr. Hurd and Mrs. Hurd search Joseph and Jack’s room and discover that Walden, the Second Octavian Nothing book, and some of Joseph’s clothes are gone. Mrs. Hurd goes to call Mrs. Stroud. When Jack tells Mr. Hurd that he thinks Joseph has gone to find Jupiter, Mr. Hurd tells Jack to let Mrs. Hurd know they’ll be late for dinner.
When Joseph runs away to find Jupiter, it ironically shows both his love for his daughter and his adolescent irresponsibility: the authorities will be even less likely to let him see Jupiter if he acts out, and so his impulsive, emotional behavior here is immature and self-sabotaging.
Themes
