42 pages • 1 hour read
Orbiting Jupiter
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Chapter 7
Chapter 7 Summary
Snow begins to fall as the Hurds look for Joseph. The weather forces them to turn back toward home. Mrs. Stroud informs the police that Joseph is missing. After staying up late waiting, Jack goes to bed. The next morning, there is still no sign of Joseph, and Jack misses school. Mrs. Hurd asks Mrs. Stroud if she thinks they should go to Brunswick to find Joseph. Mrs. Stroud opposes the idea, but Mrs. Hurd decides they should go anyway.
The Hurds stop at several businesses along the way to Brunswick in hopes of finding a trace of Joseph. Their only clue is at a Baptist church, where the pastor says he found Joseph sleeping in the Sunday School room the day before. He asked Joseph for Joseph’s parents’ phone number, but Joseph gave him a fake number and fled.
In Brunswick, the Hurds decide to split up. Jack looks around the town’s neighborhoods rather than the town center. He walks around in the cold, stopping at the local library. He shows Joseph’s picture to the librarians, but no one recognizes him. One librarian, however, reacts when Jack says Joseph is looking for his daughter who is named Jupiter. The librarian does not want Joseph to see Jupiter, and Jack realizes that the librarian is Jupiter’s foster mother.
Before Jack leaves the library, the librarian receives a phone call from her husband who has seen Joseph lurking outside their house. The librarian allows Jack to ride to her house with her, but she gives him a list of rules that prevent him from interfering with Joseph and Jupiter.
At the librarian’s house, Jack sees Joseph but stays in the car. The librarian approaches Joseph, and they speak. Police arrive, but the librarian stops them as they approach to arrest Joseph. She hands Joseph a photo and takes him back to her car. Surprised to see Jack in the car, Joseph shows him the photo of Jupiter.
The librarian takes the boys back to the town center where Mr. and Mrs. Hurd are waiting. She promises to write Joseph about Jupiter. On their way back to the farm, the Hurds and Joseph stop at a diner, and Joseph eats a large amount of food. He does the same again that night. Before falling asleep, Jack sees Joseph standing by the bedroom window looking between the photo of Jupiter and the planet in the night sky.
Chapter 7 Analysis
The weather intensifies at the same rate as the main crisis of the novel, as a snowstorm interferes with the Hurds’ search for Joseph and links the weather with the plotline yet again. In this case, the terrible storm creates physical danger for Joseph and suspense for the reader. For the first time in the novel, Jack’s parents are unable to provide support for Joseph.
Mrs. Hurd develops as a central character in this chapter. For much of Orbiting Jupiter, she is a housewife who takes care of practical family matters such as cooking; usually, Mr. Hurd plays the more active role in the family. In Chapter 7, however, Mrs. Hurd takes a powerful stance that surprises Jack, and the reader learns that Mrs. Hurd “is a pacifist. She got arrested three times during college for protesting foreign policy in El Salvador” (141). Such behavior seems uncharacteristic of Mrs. Hurd up until this point, but the detail of her past reveals that she has strict morals. For example, when Mrs. Hurd considers the decision to go to Brunswick, she asks Mrs. Stroud’s advice first, but she disregards it for Joseph’s sake.
Jack’s role as the protagonist on a journey of his becomes clear in this chapter. Thanks to Jack’s knowledge of Joseph, that arrived through his relationship with Joseph, Jack is able to become a more active protagonist and achieve his goal: finding Joseph. In a chapter propelled by discovery, the protagonist’s core belief—that Jupiter should grow up knowing Joseph—has complicated consequences. For Jack, no right answer exists, which is a sign that he is coping with an adult situation.
In this chapter, the novel returns to its religious themes. For example, on his journey to Brunswick, Joseph sleeps in a church for shelter, and the church’s pastor, Pastor Greenleaf, gives Joseph food and offers to help him. The church and Pastor Greenleaf provide Joseph with literal salvation, a major tenant of Christian belief. The pastor also provides Joseph with sustenance and, consequently, strength to continue his journey. Pastor Greenleaf and the church at large act as saviors, or angels, for Joseph.
The introduction of Jupiter’s foster mother, a librarian, challenges Joseph’s assertion that he is the only person who can properly love Jupiter. In his time with the Hurds, Joseph develops an appreciation for reading. Books are symbols of knowledge and communication, so finding Jupiter’s foster mother working in a library signals that she shares values and interests with Joseph and the Hurds. This detail provides relief, as it conveys a sense of safety for Jupiter, and it foreshadows Jupiter’s life with the Hurds after Joseph’s death.
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By Gary D. Schmidt
