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Summary
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
Social worker Mrs. Stroud tells Jack Hurd, Mr. Hurd, and Mrs. Hurd that they need certain facts before they agree to foster Joseph. Two months prior, at Adams Lake Juvenile, Joseph tried to kill a teacher after another boy gave him “something bad” to swallow. He was transferred to Stone Mountain, and now he won’t let anyone get behind him or touch him. He also has a three-month-old daughter he’s never met. Mrs. Hurd tells the Hurds to think over fostering Joseph, but Mrs. Hurd says they’ve decided. Mrs. Stroud asks what Jack thinks. With Mr. Hurd touching Jack’s back reassuringly, Jack asks when Joseph will join them.
“Something bad” is code for illegal drugs: Joseph was high, not in control of his behavior, when he assaulted a teacher. The fact that Joseph was high diminishes his culpability for the violence he committed, yet Mrs. Stroud informs the Hurds of Joseph’s violent act on the assumption that it might prejudice them. This suggests that even well-meaning adults can be prejudiced against foster children for things that aren’t entirely the children’s responsibility or fault. What Mrs. Stroud says about Joseph’s reaction to Stone Mountain suggests that something traumatic happened to Joseph there, though she doesn’t elaborate on what. The Hurds are still enthusiastic about fostering Joseph after Mrs. Stroud’s warnings, indicating that they want to parent him even if it’s difficult for them.
Themes
When Mrs. Stroud drops Joseph off at the Hurds’ house two days later, Jack thinks Joseph resembles an average eighth-grade student—dark eyes, dark hair, kind of skinny—except that he has a daughter, barely talks, and won’t let the Hurds touch him. Mr. Hurd calls Jack and Joseph into the barn and tells Joseph to watch how they milk the cows. The cows look at Joseph but don’t moo, which, to Jack, means they think Joseph is “okay.”
The contrast between Joseph’s ordinary young-teenager appearance and his withdrawn, skittish behavior hints that he’s a normal boy—to whom abnormal, awful things have happened. The cows’ calm reaction to Joseph contrasts with Mrs. Stroud’s alarmist warnings about him, which shows that the cows lack human prejudices—and might have better moral intuitions as a result. Finally, the reminder that Joseph has a child though he's only in eighth grade emphasizes that immature adolescents can unexpectedly become parents—being a parent doesn’t make someone responsible or capable.
Themes
Joseph turns down Mr. Hurd’s invitation to milk the friendliest cow, Rosie, but after Mr. Hurd milks her, Joseph rubs her rump. Rosie moos, startling Joseph. Jack tries to explain that this means Rosie is happy. Joseph cuts him off, claiming not to care, and leaves the barn. But when Joseph rubs Rosie’s rump again the next morning, she moos to express that “she love[s] him,” and Jack sees Joseph “sort of” smile for the first time.
Joseph’s friendly overtures toward Rosie the cow reveal that he likes animals, which suggests that the cows’ unprejudiced positive judgment of him was accurate. Jack’s attempt to explain the cow’s behavior to a startled Joseph, meanwhile, illustrates Jack’s friendly and helpful attitude toward his new foster brother.
Themes
Joseph tries to milk the cow Rosie. At first, he fails. Mr. Hurd tells him that he should finish. When Joseph retorts that the Hurds could buy milk, Mr. Hurd says that Rosie “needs” to be milked. He demonstrates how to milk her. After a pause, Joseph takes his place and manages to milk her slowly. Mr. Hurd, smiling, walks behind Joseph to pick up some pails—and Joseph jumps up and knocks over his pail, panting. Mr. Hurd apologizes to Joseph sadly, says he’ll finish the milking, and sends Joseph and Jack into the house.
Mr. Hurd tries to teach Joseph responsibility by explaining that Rosie “needs” to be milked: the humans that have domesticated her have a responsibility to attend to her needs. Joseph reacts to this reframing of milking—not as an activity for getting milk, but an activity for helping the dairy cows—by trying again to milk Rosie, which shows that Rosie’s intuitive “love” for him is justified. Joseph’s intensely fearful reaction to Mr. Hurd walking behind him, meanwhile, emphasizes Joseph’s past trauma and shows that Joseph doesn’t yet trust the Hurds.
Themes
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It’s a beautiful winter morning when Jack and Joseph walk to the house, but Joseph doesn’t notice as he pants and hurries inside. But that afternoon, he rubs the cow Rosie’s rump and milks her again, though it takes him a while. Later, when Mrs. Hurd asks Jack whether Joseph will “fit in,” Jack tells her that Rosie loves him. This, Jack’s opinion, is definitive: cows are excellent judges of character.
Jack has a naïve and generous attitude toward Joseph: he believes that if the cows like him, he must be a good person deep down. With this passage, the novel poses a question to readers: whose judgment of Joseph will be more accurate—the worldly, prejudiced attitude of knowledgeable adults like Mrs. Stroud or the innocent attitude of Jack and the cows?
Themes
Next Monday, when Jack and Joseph board the school bus, the driver Mr. Haskell identifies Joseph as “that kid that has a kid.” Joseph gets off the bus. Jack follows, though it’s freezing. The bus drives off. Joseph tells Jack he should have stayed aboard, but he asks to carry some of Jack’s stuff.
By calling Joseph “that kid that has a kid” in front of all the students on the bus, Mr. Haskell cruelly singles Joseph out and betrays prejudice against him for being a teenaged father. When Jack immediately gets off the bus with Joseph despite the cold, it shows Jack’s desire to support Joseph and be his friend. In the same vein, Joseph’s offer to carry some of Jack’s stuff illustrates Joseph’s desire to reciprocate Jack’s friendly gesture.
Themes
When the boys arrive late at school, vice principal Mr. Canton asks whether they missed the bus. Jack says they got off early. Joseph adds that Mr. Haskell is “a jerk.” Mr. Canton, calling Joseph “Mr. Brook,” suggests that the real issue might be Joseph’s attitude. Joseph silently gives Jack back all his stuff except the book Octavian Nothing. Mr. Canton says both boys will get a tardy. Then he sends Jack to class and tells Joseph to come discuss his schedule.
Mr. Haskell was “a jerk” to Joseph, but Mr. Canton—who calls Joseph “Mr. Brook” in an emotionally distancing, disdainful way—blames Joseph for his disagreement with Mr. Haskell without asking what actually happened. When Mr. Canton jumps to the conclusion that Joseph was at fault, it shows his prejudiced assumption that Joseph is a troublemaker. Meanwhile, when Joseph keeps the book Octavian Nothing, it hints that he likes to read—counter to stereotypes about “troublemaking” boys.
Themes
At dinner that night, Jack announces that he and Joseph will walk to school from now on. Mr. Hurd looks at Joseph and then says that the boys will need warmer clothes. By the next morning, Mrs. Hurd has found warmer clothes for the boys. As they walk, Joseph throws a stone at a church bell, ringing it. When Jack tries and misses, Joseph corrects his throwing form, and Jack hits the bell. Joseph smiles, “sort of,” for the second time. Each day after, Jack and Joseph walk to school along the Alliance River, passing a broken-down bridge.
Jack continues his friendly support of Joseph by telling his parents that he and Joseph want to walk to school—without relating Mr. Haskell’s public humiliation of Joseph. Jack and Joseph’s friendship continues to grow as Joseph teaches Jack correct throwing form and “sort of” smiles when Jack hits the bell. Finally, the mention of the river and the broken-down bridge foreshadows that these landmarks may be important later in the novel.
Themes
Jack thinks that Joseph likes his company, but several teachers don’t like Joseph. Although the teachers aren’t afraid of Joseph, Jack thinks he might if they heard Joseph yelling in his sleep: ordering people to let him go, cursing, crying out a name. But Jack thinks the teachers are very conscious that Joseph once tried to kill a teacher—especially the Language Arts teacher Mrs. Halloway. Once, when Joseph was looking at a tiny photo during class, she asked him to give it to her. When he put it back in his wallet instead, she didn’t press the issue and stopped looking at him.
The teachers are prejudiced against Joseph because they think of him as violent—perhaps without knowing that he was on drugs when he attacked a teacher, a context that diminishes his responsibility. Meanwhile, Joseph’s nightmares—especially the ones in which he yells at people to let him go—hint at the trauma he suffered in juvenile detention.
Themes
About a week later, Mr. Canton finds Jack at his locker. He tells Jack that Mr. Haskell told him Jack wasn’t on the bus again. Mr. Canton asked whether Jack walked with Joseph. After Jack nods, Mr. Canton says that while he admires Mr. Hurd and Mrs. Hurd for fostering Joseph, the brains of children like Joseph “work differently,” which causes them to “do things.” When Jack protests, Mr. Canton points out that the vice principal never scolded Jack or gave him a tardy until Jack started hanging out with Joseph.
Mr. Canton provides no supporting evidence for his claims that Joseph’s brain “work[s] differently” and causes him to “do things”—presumably bad things. This unsupported claim stigmatizes Joseph because he has been in foster care and juvenile detention, unfairly suggesting that he has inherently violent or criminal tendencies. Mr. Canton is thus clearly displaying a discriminatory attitude toward Joseph due to his background, an attitude that Jack, Joseph’s friend, correctly and loyally protests.
Themes
When Jack and Joseph are walking home later, Jack asks what Joseph’s daughter’s name is. Joseph tells Jack it’s none of his business. When Jack says he’s just asking, Joseph pauses a long time and then says, “Jupiter,” explaining that it was “our favorite planet.” Jack clarifies, “Yours and . . .” Joseph nods. The boys get home, and Mrs. Hurd drives Joseph to counseling.
Jack’s interest in Joseph’s daughter illustrates his growing friendship with and care for Joseph—and Joseph’s willingness to answer Joseph’s question after an initial defensive brush-off shows that he reciprocates Jack’s friendship. That Joseph and Jupiter’s mother named their daughter after their shared “favorite planet” suggests their youth and implies that they genuinely cared about each other. That is, people in very casual romantic relationships don’t generally have shared favorite planets.
Themes
That night, while stacking firewood outside with Mr. Hurd and Joseph, Jack asks which celestial body is Jupiter. Joseph immediately points it out in the sky. When Mr. Hurd asks how he located it, Joseph says he “always know[s] where Jupiter is.” Mr. Hurd looks sad, and Joseph hurries inside. Jack thinks that if Mr. Canton could have witnessed the incident, he’d know better about Joseph.
Joseph can always locate the planet Jupiter—but he doesn’t know where his daughter Jupiter is and has never met her. This sad irony hints that not knowing his daughter has further traumatized Joseph, while his close tracking of the planet Jupiter hints at his longing to know his daughter despite his adolescent inability to care for her. Put another way, he keeps track of the planet as an emotional proxy for knowing where his daughter is. Meanwhile, Jack’s thoughts about Mr. Canton indicate that Mr. Canton’s prejudiced view of Joseph can’t account for Joseph’s obvious longing to know his daughter.
Themes
