73 pages • 2 hours read
Brian SelznickWonderstruck
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Outer Space
Outer space plays a significant role in the visual imagery of the text. It is representative of the way Ben feels lonely and adrift. Space is cold, dark, and silent, which represents both the physical reality of Ben’s worldview (in that he can’t hear, and thus his world is silent), and his emotional reality after his mother dies. Ben has a particular interest in outer space, and his idea of his father comes from one of his mother’s favorite songs, “Space Oddity.” In the song, Major Tom, a space man, is a leading character, and Ben imagines Major Tom is his father, floating off in outer space: “He heard howling as his bed rose up and drifted into space. He was an alien, circling the North Star as Major Tom waved goodbye” (195).
Along with the recurring references to Major Tom, there are several stars in the book, both illustrated and written. Ben and Jamie explore the American Museum of Natural History’s planetarium. In this depiction, the boys are literally floating in space: “[T]he boys found themselves inside a meteor, hurtling across the sky. They flew to the moon and bounced between craters […] soon they were beyond the solar system, gazing down at the universe like ancient gods” (406). This moment indicates both the shared wonder of Jamie and Ben, and their shared isolation.
While Major Tom and the space cadet acts as a stand-in symbol for Ben’s father, young Rose is also yearning for a star, of different kind—her mother, Lillian Mayhew, who is an actress. Lillian is also a distant and yearned for parent, and her association with outer space, as a “star” of the stage, indicates a similar loneliness in Rose.
Lightning
Lightning is a symbol of change in the novel. Though frightening and even destructive, it sparks something in both Rose and Ben, which leads them toward more positive futures.
Ben’s run-in with lightning is destructive. It strikes his home and takes away the hearing in his one good ear. The incident with the lightning is also a moment when Ben realizes he has to go on a quest. The lightning, and his hospitalization as a result, lead him to run away to New York City in search of his father. It is the inciting incident for his plot arc.
Similarly, Rose makes the decision to run away from home soon after finding herself caught in a thunderstorm. She sneaks out of her bedroom to avoid her tutor and is caught in a storm on her way back. She falls, and we sense in the illustrations her weariness. The next day, she departs on a ferry to the city. Though not as prevalent in the narrative arc for Rose, again, the lightning comes just before a moment of great change.
Finally, lightning appears again at the end of the novel in the form of Jamie’s camera flash, which Ben mistakes for lightning. Though this is not real lightning, it marks another change in the plot—Ben has found both a friend and his family. These lightning flashes are less destructive and are indicative of the positive changes to come for Ben.
Wolves
Wolves play an important role in the symbolism of the novel, appearing most frequently in Ben’s dreams. Wolves are a symbol of bravery, and they guide Ben in his quest to find his family.
For Ben, who is a shy child, the wolves are initially intimidating. He frequently has nightmares that wolves are running toward him, and the novel begins with images of wolves, their eyes shining in the dark. Initially, Ben’s quest is also intimidating. He frequently feels frightened, overwhelmed, and doubtful as he searches for his father in a foreign city, without any way to hear or sign. His early impressions of the wolves, as symbols of fear or malice matches his feeling about his quest.
As Ben’s feelings change, his conception of the wolves changes, too. He discovers that his father created the wolf diorama in the American Museum of Natural History, and he begins to associate wolves with his parents. At first, the mystery of the wolves, and the quest, is frustrating: “Out of breath, he knelt down and stared into the wolves’ eyes. They seemed to burn with secrets Ben was sure he’d never know” (462). But soon, Ben realizes the wolves are guides; “They’d been guiding him, leading him onward, through the snow, to his father” (578). Wolves are animals that seek a pack, and in many ways, the wolves were encouraging Ben to be brave and find his family—his wolf pack.
At the end of the novel, Ben is proud of the wolves as part of his legacy, in the same way that he is proud of himself for persevering. Rose solidifies his feelings, assuring him: “Thank you for being so brave […] Your parents would have been very proud of you” (581).
