49 pages • 1 hour read
Gordon KormanSupergifted
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A 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
Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal is the newest robot designed by the Academy robotics team. His state is symbolic of the journey of Noah Youkilis. When Noah is invested in his studies and robotics, the robot is also strong and fast (thanks in part to Noah’s own contributions).
However, when Noah announces his superkid status to the world, things start to change. Noah starts skipping his classes and robotics meetings because he is always busy with interviews. Soon the robot goes haywire as well, no longer responding to the controller’s commands. Significantly, that controller is Donovan, who can no more get Heavy Metal to listen to him than he can Noah. Meanwhile,
Hardcastle plans a big assembly for the governor to honor the superkid, during which Heavy Metal will be the other “star of the show” (101).
It eventually emerges that the connection between Noah’s behavior and Heavy Metal’s isn’t merely symbolic. The hiding place Noah settled on for GradeWorm was Heavy Metal’s hard drive, and the program wrecks the robot just as the identity of superkid interferes with the real Noah. Heavy Metal’s malfunctioning stems directly from Noah’s irresponsibility and preoccupation with his celebrity status.
Kandahar and Beatrice
Brad’s dog, Beatrice, and Beatrice’s puppy, Kandahar (nicknamed Kandy), symbolize Donovan’s Friendship and Loyalty. Although Beatrice was Brad’s dog, he “disappeared on her” to go to Afghanistan (11), and when he came back, he was always occupied with Tina. Since Donovan took over caring for Beatrice and her puppy, even letting them take over his room, they are now more his dogs than Brad’s. Kandy especially feels safe around Donovan, who believes Kandy thinks of him as a “mother.” Donovan likewise feels a “special connection” with Kandy (13), who reminds him of himself. Like Donovan, Kandy is always getting into trouble for reckless behavior, and like Donovan feels like “an ungifted guy” (172), Kandy struggles to learn things that his sister is very good at. This only strengthens Noah’s affection for him: “He might have been an ugly, untrainable, mongrel, but he was my ugly, untrainable mongrel” (32).
Beatrice and Donovan are also loyal to one another. Beatrice greets Donovan in the mornings, and when Donovan is attacked by Hashtag, she bites the latter’s arm. Donovan in turn tries to protect Beatrice from Hashtag’s parents and animal control, which is why he can’t tell anyone about his heroic act in saving the Mercurys’ house. The fact that her puppy plays an indirect role in revealing the true superkid underscores the symbiotic relationship between the dogs and Donovan.
YouTube
YouTube symbolizes Noah’s yearning for friends and unpredictability. According to Noah, “if it wasn’t for YouTube” (7), there would not be any surprises in his life. This is also the reason that he likes YouTube, Tina, and Hardcastle, which similarly evade scientific understanding. Noah notes, for example, that clicking on a YouTube video can bring up “a kid on a pogo stick or a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral or some guy playing the piccolo with his nose” (18). In the complicated and “messy” system of YouTube, nothing is ever “100 percent determinate” (168), which is a novelty for Noah.
YouTube also serves as a substitute friend for Noah. He often turns to YouTube for advice, watching videos that include “Playing through Pain” (42), “Stand Up to Bullies” (43), “America’s Celebrity Culture” (106), and “Keep Negativity Out of Your Life” (151). For Noah, who struggles to understand social interactions, YouTube provides a window into “all the true secrets of humanity” (44).
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By Gordon Korman
