60 pages • 2 hours read
Clare VanderpoolNavigating Early
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Pi
The story of Pi is a recurring motif throughout the book. Early narrates the story translated from what he sees in the digits of the number pi. The number symbolizes the quest in the book, as the boys’ math teacher, Mr. Blane, presents it as the Holy Grail of mathematics. He likens Dr. Stanton’s quest to prove its end, to historians’ search for the magical object.
Early’s narration of Pi’s story is interspersed throughout the main narrative, and there are constant parallels between Pi’s experiences and the boys’ journey. In addition, some of the feelings and emotional challenges Pi grapples with correlate to the heartache experienced by different characters across the story. Thus, it points to the theme of Navigating Grief and Loss.
There are also unexpected connections between characters within and outside the story: MacScott, who parallels Darius, the pirate captain in Pi’s story, is connected to Eustasia, who parallels the “Ancient One” from Pi’s story. Gunnar, whom Jack mistakes to be a white whale that saves him, is connected to Miss B., the librarian at Morton Hill Academy. Pi’s story relates to the theme of Parallels and Connections With Pi’s Story, which underlines the book’s message of how things are interconnected in more ways than one knows.
Rowing and the Maine
Rowing is a recurring motif in the book and is connected to other symbols, such as the Maine, and the ocean. Jack encounters the ocean for the first time when he moves to Maine and is immediately overwhelmed by it, throwing up at first sight. The ocean represents a vast, new challenge, and rowing becomes an act of responding to such a challenge, as Pi does in his story.
In parallel, Jack tries rowing for the first time at his new school and struggles with it, constantly veering off-course. Significantly, Early becomes his navigator, helping him with his technique and direction. When Jack rejects Early’s help, he is unable to steer straight, and he crashes the boat in the regatta. Early and Jack’s rowing relationship mirrors their dynamic in real life and their relationship to the quest they embark on: In both cases, Jack moves ahead under Early’s astute direction. Rowing as a motif points to the theme of Navigating Grief and Loss, as Early helps Jack come to terms with his mother’s death and reconcile with his father.
The Maine, Fisher’s boat, is the vessel the boys use in their quest. As the boys get entrenched deeper in the quest, they lose their boat and, subsequently, their sense of direction. This happens to Pi, too, at moments when he is overwhelmed by either the ocean or grief and is unable to row straight or navigate anymore. The boys find the Maine again shortly after discovering that Fisher is alive, and they are headed home. The Maine is thus symbolic of the boys’ connection to home. This symbolism is repeated in Jack inviting John to help him build a boat by the end of the book, signifying how father and son have reconciled and are ready to build a new home together.
Stars and Constellations
Stars and constellations are important symbols in the book. Jack and Pi are both navigators with knowledge of the stars, their names, and how to use them for guidance. When Pi sets out on his journey, his mother asks him to use the Great Bear to guide him. The Great Bear constellation, in particular, symbolizes a mother’s love, guidance, and protection. It translates into yet another symbol within the story, the big bear that Early tracks. Just as the Great Bear symbolizes protection in Pi’s story, the big bear inadvertently protects the boys in an encounter with MacScott.
Besides navigation, the stars also represent unexpected connections. At different points in the story, Elaine and Gunnar tell Jack about the importance of looking at the stars not just for navigation but also to admire their beauty; they may be connected in more ways than just the known constellations. In keeping with this, Gunnar is later discovered to be connected to Miss B., the librarian at Morton Hill. Jack discovers this because Miss B.’s favorite poem is the same as Gunnar’s Emmaline: Hopkins’s “The Starlight Night,” a poem about the stars. Jack also experiences an unexpected connection that brings him closure about Elaine’s death through his conversation with Eustasia. By the end of the book, Jack has realized the presence of such connections throughout life, symbolized by the fictional constellation he puts up on his wall, connecting the different people in the story in the shape of his mother’s teacup.
