Protagonist Motivation
This book really has two protagonists. The main protagonist is Hattie Owen. The entire book is written from her point of view. The book opens in the month of October when Hattie is watching a family home movie of the past summer, when she was turning 12 years old, and her uncle Adam came home. In the first paragraph, Hattie reveals that, since the summer, she always thinks of events as, "Before Adam" and "After Adam." Adam is Hattie's 21 year old uncle who is mentally disabled. Hattie's grandparents (Adam's parents) had sent him away to a special school a long time ago for many years. Adam came home during the summer that Hattie was turning 12 because his school was closing, and he needed a place to live. Hattie's summer with Adam changed her life. Hattie's motivation is to learn and grow from her uncle Adam and to help herself, her family and others learn to appreciate life, accept others, and be tolerant. Adam told Hattie that he thought she was one of the people that could "lift the corners of our universe." Hattie did not understand what Adam meant by that at first. She eventually realizes that what is means is that "it's all about changing what's handed to you, about poking around a little, lifting the corners, seeing what's underneath, poking that. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't, but at least you're exploring. And life is always more interesting that way." (pg.189) Hattie is motivated to lift the corners of our universe.
The secondary protagonist in the story is Adam Mercer. Because of Adam's mental illness, he faces many challenges in his life. Adam's motivation is to be accepted by others. Adam is unpredictable, interesting, emotional, and fun. He shows Hattie that life can be all those things, and he is what motivates Hattie.
The secondary protagonist in the story is Adam Mercer. Because of Adam's mental illness, he faces many challenges in his life. Adam's motivation is to be accepted by others. Adam is unpredictable, interesting, emotional, and fun. He shows Hattie that life can be all those things, and he is what motivates Hattie.
Antagonist Motivation
In this book, the antagonist is Nana, Harriett Mercer, Hattie's grandmother and Adam's mother. Nana is motivated by her need for everything to be perfect. She is very important in the town, she is very wealthy, and has many servants. She is always worried about how her family dresses and how they act. She does not approve of her daughter's husband or their lifestyle, which she thinks is an embarrassment. Nana does not allow people to be themselves. This is made clear because she sent Adam away because he is different and does not fit into the way she thinks people should be. Her son is an embarrassment to her. She is motivated to keep her world appearing perfect and denies what is real.
Climax
The climax of the story is Adam's death and his funeral. Towards the end of the story, Adam kills himself. Adam had fallen in love with Angel Valentine, a young women who was living in the Owen's boardinghouse. One day, Adam arrives at the boardinghouse with flowers for Angel. He finds her with her boyfriend. He is devastated and runs off. Adam's family searches for him for hours, but the police finally find him dead. Adam had hanged himself behind Nana and Papa's shed. Adam's funeral is on August 2, 1960, on a bright sunny day that would have made Adam scream, "Happiness! Happiness!" Instead of wearing black like everyone was expected to do, Hattie wears her yellow dress, because Adam really liked it. Hattie speaks at Adam's funeral and tells everyone there that Adam was not a freak, that he was called many names like that and it had been very hard on Adam. She also tells them that they should always remember Adam as one of those people who could "lift the corners of our universe." When she finished speaking, she understood that she had really grown up through her experience with Adam.
Outcome
After the funeral, Nana and Hattie are sitting in Adam's room, and Nana shows Adam's treasure box to Hattie. The treasure box is filled with letters and gifts from Hattie's mom that Adam had kept for several years. Hattie's mom had been sending something to Adam every single week the entire time he was away at the school. Nana and Hattie sit quietly on Adam's bed holding hands for a long time. It is obvious that Nana and Hattie have been changed by what they had learned from Adam and Hattie's connection to him. A few weeks later, Hattie and her parents take a trip to the beach in Avalon, New Jersey. One night, when they are sitting on the beach, Hattie asks everyone to say one thing they remember about Adam. Hattie's mom says, "Adam was brave." Hattie's dad says, "Adam could see right into your soul." Hattie said, "Adam was different." (pg.185) Then the next night, Hattie asks everyone to say something about what they learned from Adam. Hattie's mom said, "Adam taught me that we should take time to enjoy life. And that it's okay to go against the grain. That's why we're here." Her dad agreed. Hattie said, " Adam taught me that we have to talk about things." (pg.185) They all agree to try to communicate better and to become more accepting of others.
Conflict
The conflict is Hattie's struggle with the world that Nana has created around her family. Nana has required everyone around her to fit into her life and meet her expectations. Nana feels that if you are different, then you are an embarrassment. She is unemotional, demanding and formal. Everyone must behave and dress properly in Nana's world. Hattie does not like this. She wants to be free to just be herself. Hattie begins to understand why she is having trouble with the world created by her grandmother after Adam comes home because he is completely different than Nana. Adam makes the world real despite being mentally challenged. When Adam dies, Hattie shares with everyone her feelings and her connection to Adam, and, in doing that, people start to realize that Nana's world is not a great place. Even Nana begins to recognize her mistakes with Adam and her family.
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Chapter 5
In this chapter, Adam arrives home from school. Hattie and her parents are getting ready for dinner at Nana and Papa's house. Hattie has to get dressed in her fancy dress and her stockings. Hattie also carries her white gloves with her just in case Nana looks disapprovingly at her bare hands. When they arrive at Nana and Papa's house, Adam comes running out, greeting them, talking very fast, hugging everyone, and talking about "I Love Lucy." It is clear to Hattie that Adam has a hard time controlling himself. She thinks he is strange, but he also makes her smile. Nana comes in and scolds Adam to slow down. Papa invites them all to come and sit in the grand sitting room and have drinks. Adam and Hattie are both served Shirley Temples. Even though Adam is 21, this shows that Nana and Papa still think of Adam as a kid. While they are sitting, Adam is looking at a magazine and Nana scolds him to put it away. Then, Adam reaches into his drink to pull out the cherry and again Nana yells at him. Adam gets so nervous that he spills his drink. Adam spends a lot of time talking to Hattie, and she feels like she can really relate to him. She really likes her uncle Adam. During dinner, Adam eats too fast and chews with his mouth open, and again Nana scolds him and tells him to use his party manners. This time Adam stares at his mother and continues to eat fast and with his mouth open. Then, he slams his fist on the table and imitates Nana and says," Adam, party manners." After that, Adam does not say another word, and he looks sad. During desert, Adam picks up his bowl and slurps from it. This time, Papa yells at him, and Adam stomps out of the room. This chapter is important chapter because it shows how Adam cannot control his behavior, how Nana is not accepting of her son, and how he does not fit into her perfect world.
Chapters 15-16
Every summer, Fred Carmel's Funtime Carnival comes to Millerton. The first day it opens, Hattie goes with her parents. At the carnival, she meets a girl named Leila. Leila and her family work at the carnival. Leila and Hattie become great friends, and Hattie visits Leila every day. Hattie loves the carnival and starts taking Adam there even though he does not like to go on the rides. Hattie decides that she wants to go to the carnival at night. She really wants Adam to go with her, but Nana would never let Adam go at night. In chapter 15, Nana and Papa are planning a fancy summer party which they have every year. Kids are not invited to this party. Even though Adam is not really a kid, he often acts like a child, so Nana does not want him to be there. Hattie knows that Adam will be stuck in his room during the party, and knows that he will have much more fun at the carnival. Hattie and Leila come up with a plan to sneak Adam out of the house during the party. When they get to the carnival, and Adam sees all of the lights and the ferris wheel, he decides that he wants to go on it. He is really nervous, but once it starts to move, he realizes that it is fun and relaxing. He says, "It's Neverland, it's Oz, it's Nirvana. Oh, it's the center of the universe." (pg.130) But then, all of a sudden, on the third time around, the ferris wheel comes to a screeching stop and they get stuck at the very top of the ferris wheel. Adam is terrified and starts to shriek and shriek. Hattie and Leila try to calm him down, but it does not work. People work to get the ride to run again, but Adam cannot wait to get off. He starts to climb out of the ferris wheel even though they are at the top. Hattie and Leila grab his legs, and once the ferris wheel starts to work again, they hold his feet all the way down. When they get to the bottom, the police arrive and grab Adam. Hattie begs them to leave him alone, but they do not listen. Everyone is staring at Adam. They think he is crazy. Papa and Hattie's dad arrive as they are putting Adam in a straight jacket and are preparing to take him to the hospital. Hattie's dad is very mad at her for taking Adam out of the house without permission. She is punished and is not allowed to leave the house for many days. This chapter is important because it sets the stage for the rest of the story as Hattie comes to accept Adam for who he is and grows from her relationship with him.
Chapter 22
This is the last chapter of the book and it takes you back to chapter one where the story began. In chapter one, Hattie is alone in her house watching a home movie that her dad filmed during the summer that she turned 12 years old and her uncle Adam came home. Chapter 22 reminds you that the whole book had been about Hattie remembering that past summer. The first paragraph of chapter 22 shows the reader that Hattie has finished watching the film about her summer and is now putting it back in the canister. Two months have passed since Adams death. It is October. Angel had moved out of the boardinghouse. Hattie was still mad at Angel because she thought it was Angel's fault that Adam had killed himself. The past two months had been difficult for Nana and Papa. Hattie was surprised, because she thought they would just go on with their lives like nothing had happened, as they had done when they sent Adam away to school. Things were different than she expected. Papa could not go back to work, and he spent most of his time alone in his garden. Nana cried every time someone mentioned Adam's name. When Papa finally went back to work, Nana asked Hattie to come over and help clean out Adam's room. When Hattie starts to take a picture of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo off of Adam's wall, it starts to rip. Nana cries out, "No! Don't touch that." She tells Hattie that she is not ready to clean out Adam's room and sends her home. It takes another month before Nana's finally cleans out Adam's room. At the end of August, Hattie and her parents take a family trip to the beach in Avalon, New Jersey. They spend time together and remember Adam. At the end of the summer, her friend Betsy comes home, and Hattie tells her all about her summer. Again, the author reminds the reader that Hattie is still sitting in the parlor of her house remembering the past summer. As Hattie puts the film canister back into the box, she comes across a list of other films in the box. The last one on the list says "MERCER." Hattie takes the film out and watches it. She sees a young women in her cap and gown, holding up her diploma. It is Hattie's mom. Hattie realizes the film is of her mom's college graduation in 1943, when Adam would have been 5 years old. Suddenly, Adam bursts into the picture and smiles. He runs up to his sister and hugs her. Hattie's mom takes off her graduation cap and puts it on Adams head. Hattie is smiling and crying as she watches the film, but cannot watch the rest of it. Hattie thinks about the summer that was both awful and wonderful. She thanks Adam, as she has done every day since he died, for showing her that it is possible to lift the corners of our universe.
