The Science of Breakable Things

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapter 1-Part 2, Chapters 2-6

Part 3, Chapters 7-9-Part 4, Chapters 10-14

Part 5, Chapters 15-21

Part 6, Chapters 22-31

Part 7, Chapters 32-41-Part 8, Chapter 42

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

The Importance of Creating and Mending Friendships

Over the course of the novel, Natalie learns the value of forming new friendships and mending existing ones. At first, Natalie has only one friend, Twig, from whom she has grown apart; she doesn’t tell her friend the truth about her mother’s illness. After several months of tension, Twig admits that she assumed responsibility for the problems in their relationship; she simply can’t decide what she did wrong to prompt this strain. After Natalie reaches a breaking point and can’t keep her feelings bottled up inside any longer, she is surprised by how supportive, committed, and serious Twig can be. Although her friend previously seemed sort of irresponsible and silly, Natalie learns that Twig is fiercely caring and loyal and will do anything to help her in a crisis.

In addition to mending her friendship with Twig, Natalie also finds the courage to accept a new friend into her life: Dari. Natalie and Twig have been best friends for three years, without having any other friends. At first, Natalie struggles to accept Dari because she feels threatened that he might take her place. However, the other Twig and Dari reiterate that they’re all a team, and she has a special place within that team. Twig explains, “You’re not the captain because you do everything right and stay out of trouble. You’re the captain because you bring us all together” (262). Natalie decides that she wants to be there to support her friends the way that they looked out for her. It takes courage to be vulnerable in friendships, but once Natalie tries it, she realizes the benefits of doing so outweigh the risks.

Although Natalie’s friends don’t have a magic cure for her mother’s depression, they give her the support she needs to continue having hope. She learns that true friends are safe to open up to. They will use the information you give them to help, rather than harm, her. After becoming more secure and confident in her friendships, Natalie is also able to trust her therapist and her parents with her feelings; this facilitates her own healing process, as well as that of her mother. Each person Natalie trusts helps her in a different way, and they are all necessary. However, this process began with her best friend, Twig, and continued because of the security she gained from the loyal support of just one person.

Human Strength and Fragility

Through her mother’s depression as well as her experiences with other characters, Natalie learns that people can simultaneously be both strong and fragile. At first, she seems to think that people are either one or the other but can switch over time. For example, she feels that her mother is currently not strong, brave, or courageous, having stopped going to work, taking care of plants, or hanging out much with her daughter. This is in contrast to her “old Mom,” who was full of life, passion, and “something like happiness” (43).

After Natalie discovers more about depression, plants, eggs, and human identity, she learns that her mother can be strong sometimes but fragile at other moments. Eggs are breakable; although they can sometimes be protected from drops, other times they break. Damage occurs in certain contexts despite one’s best efforts to prevent it. Similarly, plants die, but many of them resurface in the spring. Natalie applies this concept of fragility to her mother, reasoning that all things are fragile sometimes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be strong again. Sometimes, things are actually being strong in the moment, even if their strength can’t be seen, such as in the case of perennial plants that are absorbing nutrients before they bloom or sprout out of the soil.

Other characters who help Natalie understand the coexistence of strength and fragility include Mr. Neely and Dari. At first, Natalie makes fun of them both because of their unironic enthusiasm and sincere emotional vulnerability. However, she discovers that there is profound freedom in not worrying about other peoples’ opinions. She concludes that rather than being a weakness, the vulnerability and openness that Mr. Neely and Dari share is a sign of strength and courage. It seems easier and more comfortable to constantly wear a mask or keep one’s feelings bottled up inside than to make one’s struggles apparent. Once Natalie tries to become more expressive, she learns that it’s not easy and can even feel violent if the person isn’t ready to make that change. Meanwhile, she recognizes that Dari’s choice to simply be himself requires tremendous bravery in middle school.

In other words, Natalie learns that fragility is not a weakness. The real weakness is being too scared to be vulnerable, which is the condition Natalie was trapped in at the beginning of the book. Only after admitting she’s fragile and allowing herself to break open is Natalie able to begin healing.

The Wide-Ranging Impact of Depression

In The Science of Breakable Things, depression is shown to be a web that affects the person with depression, as well as others around them, in complex and sometimes covert or unpredictable ways. At first, Natalie is confused by the changes in her mother’s behavior, unable to realize that they’re all symptoms of depression: sleeping more, working less, losing interest in hobbies and activities, wearing pajamas during the day, and seeming to retreat deeper into herself. Even after Natalie understands that her mother’s behavior is caused by depression, she still has a lot to discover about how it affects her father, herself, and the surrounding world.

First, Natalie’s mother’s depression affects others around her in certain direct ways. For example, Natalie’s dad takes on some of her mom’s normal responsibilities, such as cooking, driving Natalie places, and watering her mom’s plants, when her mother retreats into her bedroom. Her mother’s absence directly affects Natalie, making her feel lonely and abandoned, but Natalie is also affected by the changes in her father. At first, she simply doesn’t love his cooking. Later, she starts to notice his anger seeping out, which bothers her more than her mother’s absence. Her mother’s behavior becomes predictable to her at a certain point, but the change in her father’s emotions is new and upsetting to Natalie. Her own behavior also changes in response to shifts in the family dynamic; she struggles to focus at school and begins mimicking her mother’s behavior by refusing to speak to her father and retreating into her own bedroom.

Natalie struggles to admit that her mother’s depression affects her, not only her father. This is evident in her refusal to speak to Dr. Doris about her mother, or about practically anything at all, for the first several sessions. However, Natalie is aware that she and her dad are “compass needles, pointing straight at Mom” (119); they are absorbed into her sadness, and they view her as the destination they’re trying to reach. Natalie’s being open about her mother—both learning what is happening and expressing her own feelings about it—is tantamount to her healing process.

Lastly, the novel indicates that the wide-ranging impact of depression is not always negative. Positive phenomena can also come about as a result of depression. For example, by telling her friends about her mother, Natalie strengthens her friendships as well as her own knowledge on the subject. She also becomes closer to both of her parents and is thankful for the degree of honesty they can now share.