“It takes a lot of courage and trust to look past what you’ve been through, and trust someone new not to put you through it again” ~ Anonymous. Many people have been through a tough time in the past that changes them forever. Sometimes, they lose their trust. This relates to Joseph In Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt in a myriad of ways. Jack meets his new foster brother, Joseph. Before Joseph came, he already knew three things about his past life. Jack tells a one of a kind story of Joseph. All Joseph wants is to find his baby daughter, Jupiter, whom he has never seen before. At first, Jack did not know how urgently he will want to help. Joseph and Jack are confronted by many obstacles but, gets through them together. Gary Schmidt uses …show more content…
During Christmas time with Jack and his family. Jack’s parents decided to help Joseph find Jupiter. “He walked over to my mother and she put her arms around him and put his arms around her and leaned into her” (114). Before he hugged Jack’s mom, Joseph opened up a letter, which was his Christmas present, saying that they will help him find his baby girl. No one ever thought Joseph would hug anyone because his affection and trust was broken in the past. In the story, Joseph had never liked anyone that would touch him until he joined Jack’s family. “When my father put his hand on Joseph’s back, Joseph didn't even flinch” (115). One major event that happened in Joseph’s past was his father abused him. The reason why he was abused is because everyday he would walk seven miles to Madeline’s house. Joseph’s father never liked that which lead to his father being physically abusive to him. Since that moment, Joseph had a hard time trusting people who would come in contact with him. Every time someone would touch him, he would get very scared. Many people would feel that way if they were treated like that too. Each time the novel goes on, Joseph gets more and more comfortable with the people he is surrounded by. Joseph has finally stopped getting scared when people would touch him and became more affectionate to the people who really care about …show more content…
At first, Jack’s parents were helping Joseph get to be able to see Jupiter. Although, he could no longer wait. Jack and his parents were very worried and decided to drive to Brunswick to find him. After lots of time looking for Joseph, Jack finds him where Jupiter lives. The foster mother knew how much Joseph loved his baby girl and decided to give a framed photo of Jupiter. When he got into the car, Joseph showed Jack the picture. “He got in the car and leaned forward. Look at this, he said, and showed me Jupiter” (162). This shows a lot of trust. Throughout the novel, Joseph was very secretive with the photo. He did not reveal the photograph to anyone. Finally, he showed Jack. Joseph and Jack became closer and closer throughout the book. Joseph really appreciates that Jack and his parents took the time to search for him. “So Jackie, you still have my back. Yup. And it's Jack. Yeah. Then he looked up at Jupiter. Thanks, he said” (164). What Joseph wanted was a family or at least someone he could trust. Joseph was trying to reassure himself that Jack and his family still has his back if he ever needs to trust them for something. No matter what happens to him, Joseph will always have people to trust. Joseph had a lot of courage to begin to trust people to not put him through his past again. At the beginning of the book, Joseph had no affection or trust with his new family. It was torn apart from his past.