The Invention of Hugo Cabret

“From the very first moment his father had told him about it, the mechanical man had become the center of Hugo’s life.”

This passage demonstrates the automaton's importance to Hugo. It is his only connection to his dead father. Initially, Hugo’s fascination with the automaton is based on his love for clockworks, mechanisms, and magic. Later in the novel, the automaton symbolizes Hugo’s father and Hugo’s desire for a better life after his uncle's disappearance. What starts out as a simple point of interest becomes Hugo’s main reason for living.

“Some magicians started off as clock makers. They used their knowledge of machines to build these automata to amaze their audiences. The sole purpose of the machines was to fill people with wonder, and they succeeded. No one in the audience could figure out how these mysterious figures danced or wrote or sang. It was as if the magicians had created artificial life, but the secret was always in the clockworks.”

While Hugo loves working with clocks, especially in his father’s shop, he finds a true passion in magic, which forms the basis of the theme Invention, Technology, and Magic. This passage is a flashback of Hugo’s father teaching him about the automaton and who would have built it. This connection between horology and magic fascinates Hugo and helps him survive in the train station after his uncle disappears. This knowledge also allows Hugo to fix the automaton using parts from Georges’s toys, initiating a strong bond between the boy and the toymaker.

“This was all his fault! He had wanted his father to fix the machine, and now, because of him, his father was dead.”

Hugo struggles with several instances of internal conflict, yet one of the most powerful is his guilt over his father’s death. This illustrates the theme of Overcoming Loss. Hugo blames himself because he persisted in telling his father to fix the automaton. Although Hugo is not at fault, he is too young to think reasonably about the situation. This internalized guilt and inability to reason makes young Hugo a more sympathetic character.

“You come from a long line of horologists. Your father would be proud.”

Uncle Claude says this to Hugo as they walk to the train station, Hugo’s new home, after Hugo’s father’s death. This passage illustrates that horology runs in Hugo’s family and that his talent for working with clocks is no accident. It also provides Hugo comfort knowing his work and talent would make his father proud. This emphasizes the theme of The Power of Family.

“And so Hugo began working all day in the dark on the clocks. He had often imagined that his own head was filled with cogs and gears like a machine, and he felt a connection with whatever machinery he touched.”

This passage shows Hugo's deep connection with clocks, beyond that of his horologist heritage. Machinery, especially clockwork, is a large part of his thinking process. The metaphor of Hugo’s brain being a clock illustrates how his mind works differently from others. This emphasizes the theme of Invention, Technology, and Magic, and creates a bond between him and Georges, as both see the world differently and use that to create something magical.

“Hugo silently cried himself to sleep most nights, and he dreamed of broken clocks and fires.”

This line relates to the theme of Overcoming Loss. Hugo has experienced significant mental and emotional trauma with his father's death and Uncle Claude's disappearance. While Hugo’s strength of character allows him to survive on his own, his dreams demonstrate that he struggles with these losses and that they haunt him. Having to survive alone also creates a lot of stress for Hugo and getting caught would endanger him. This explains why he doesn’t open up to Isabelle easily and why he becomes so defensive about his secrets.

“He preferred to pay for what he could with the coins that he found each week, and he tried not to steal anything he thought people needed.”

After losing his father, Hugo often steals to eat. However, this passage illustrates that stealing has not affected Hugo’s character, showing how Hugo maintains his integrity even while becoming resilient and resourceful enough to survive. The only exception to this rule is his theft of the parts for the automaton, but he justifies this by believing that the automaton is his ticket out of the station.

“Hugo blinked. He had never thought of himself as mean before. The old man was mean, not him. Hugo had no choice… he had to keep secrets, but he couldn’t explain this to the girl.”

Because Hugo must fight to survive within the train station after Claude’s disappearance, he forgets that his behavior can be viewed differently by those who don’t know him or his history. Isabelle doesn’t know why Hugo is so protective of his notebook, and to her, his behavior seems unnecessarily harsh. Hugo calling Georges mean is also ironic because Georges is doing what he can to survive and heal from the past, just like Hugo. The theme of Overcoming Loss links the characters, though they must look past their judgments to understand each other.

“Hugo’s father had stepped into a dark room and, on a white screen, he had seen a rocket fly right into the eye of the man in the moon. Father said he had never experienced anything like it. It had been like seeing his dreams in the middle of the day.”

This moment is critical to tying Hugo, his father, and Georges together. The image of the rocket and the man in the moon comes from one of Georges’s movies, which Hugo’s father saw as a child. Hugo’s father then passes that image on to Hugo when he describes the magic of filmmaking. Ultimately, this image is key to Hugo's understanding of who Georges is and how his work affected Hugo’s father and, eventually, Hugo himself.

“‘My parents died when I was a baby,’ said Isabelle, ‘and Papa Georges and Mama Jeanne were my godparents, so they took me in and raised me. They are very nice, except when it comes to the movies.’”

This passage explains the relationship between Isabelle, Georges, and Jeanne. While readers won’t learn that Isabelle’s parents died in a car accident until later in the novel, this passage explains that that Georges and Jeanne, Isabelle’s godparents, took her in after the death of her parents. This illustrates The Power of Family. Further, Isabelle says that she doesn’t know why she’s forbidden from going to the movies, foreshadowing later revelations of Georges’s past as a filmmaker.

“‘I don’t know anything about you,’ she said. ‘You know where I live, you know about my parents. If we’re going to be friends, then I think I should know about you. Why won’t you tell me?’”

Isabelle reminds Hugo that he knows personal information about her, yet he won’t reciprocate and tell her anything about himself. Even so, she calls Hugo her friend and wishes to break through his secrecy. Isabelle’s friendliness eventually softens Hugo, and he tells her about his father and uncle.

“How did you get into my house? How stupid can you be? I was going to return the notebook to you! But what did you do after I took you in and gave you a chance? You repaid me with more theft, more lies. I watched you pocketing small mechanisms. Yet I didn’t stop you. You kept the booth clean and were good at fixing the toys. You were helpful. My God, I even like your company! But then you break into my house? I’m shocked you would even dare to show your face here again. You are nothing but a disappointment.”

When Georges discovers that the notebook is missing from his apartment, he becomes angry and confronts Hugo. He doesn’t know that Isabelle, not Hugo, took the notebook. His reaction reveals some of his deeper feelings about Hugo and his growing fondness for the boy, which intensifies his hurt and anger over this perceived betrayal of trust. This passage also illustrates the increasing bond between the old man and the boy, which will continue to grow and deepen throughout the novel.

“With the proper instruction, his talent for machines translated perfectly to magic tricks. Hugo had come to understand the connection between horology and magic that his father had talked about. It wasn’t just the understanding of machinery, it was the dexterity, the talent within his fingers themselves, as if they automatically know what to do.”

This quote connects what Hugo’s father taught him about the connection between horology and magic with what Hugo learned for himself with his work on the automaton and at the toy booth. Hugo’s sleight of hand—which he used to steal Isabelle’s necklace, the key to the automaton—ties Invention, Technology, and Magic together. It also shows Hugo’s character development and his deepening passion for clockworks and magic. This passion helps Hugo survive at the train station, but it will also serve him as he becomes a magician in adulthood.

“‘Please tell us what’s going on,’ said Hugo.

‘No. The only thing I’ll say is that I need to protect my husband. And the best way for me to do that is just to forget about all this. Trust me. We must never speak of this again.’”

As Isabelle and Hugo seek to uncover the mystery surrounding Georges, Jeanne keeps her promise that she will never speak of his days as a filmmaker. This passage emphasizes The Power of Family and shows her character as an honorable wife who wants to protect her husband. Like Georges, Jeanne refuses to discuss Georges’s past life with the children, forcing them to continue searching until they finally uncover Geroges’s past as a filmmaker.

“‘Stop it, Georges! Stop!’ yelled his wife. ‘This is your work!’

‘HA!’ he cried. ‘How could this be mine? I am not an artist! I am nothing! I’m a penniless merchant, a prisoner! A shell! A windup toy!’”

Isabelle and Hugo discover Georges’s true identity as the famous Georges Méliès. This passage illustrates the extent to which Georges is traumatized by his past. He no longer associates with movies and refuses to acknowledge his past work, and his words show he no longer sees himself as a world-renowned artist. This adds greater depth to his healing at the novel's end, when he overcomes his loss and restores his love for magic and film through Hugo.

“Hugo didn’t know why the old man had kept the blue mouse. He had always assumed the toy had been sold a long time ago. Hugo liked that he had kept it, though.”

The blue mechanical mouse symbolizes Hugo’s journey in the novel. In the beginning, both are broken and have no hope for the future. In time, however, both are restored and can carry out their life’s purpose. The mouse also symbolizes the connection between Hugo and Georges. At first, Georges is angry that Hugo tried to steal the mouse and broke it. However, when Hugo fixes the mouse, Georges sees his talent and potential. The fact that Georges kept the mouse illustrates his interest in the boy, and Hugo feels affection for the man when he discovers Georges kept the mouse instead of selling it.

“Hugo just looked at her. He glanced at his hands and his clothes and realized that he hadn’t thought about the way he looked in a long time.”

When Hugo goes to the Film Academy to look through the library, the lady in the lobby dismisses him based on his appearance. This draws Hugo’s attention to how he looks for the first time in a long while, likely since the disappearance of his uncle (or earlier). This lack of awareness reveals the extent of Hugo's abandonment. Hugo’s life revolves around tending the clocks and repairing the machine, alone and hidden inside the walls. With no one else around, he has no reason to care about looking presentable.

“But he looked at Isabelle, and it was as if he could feel all the cogs and wheels begin to engage in his mind, and the words suddenly came together. He related the whole story, from his father’s discovery of the automaton up in the attic of the museum, to the fire, to the arrival and disappearance of his uncle. He told her about discovering the toys in her godfather’s booth and how he used them to fix the automaton. He told her everything.”

This passage describes the moment Hugo lets go of his secrecy and tells Isabelle about his past. Hugo’s willingness to open up eventually leads to him working with Isabelle to solve the mystery surrounding Georges, which will then lead to Hugo belonging to a family again. This passage also brings back the metaphor of Hugo’s brain as a clock, once more showing his deep connection to clockwork machines.

“Prometheus had stolen the fire because he wanted to help the people he had created, yet he was still punished. Hugo had become a thief to survive and to help the automaton. What would his punishment be?”

Selznick alludes to the Greek god Prometheus to illustrate Hugo’s character. As Isabelle reads the myth aloud, Hugo compares himself and Prometheus, noting that they are both thieves for good reasons. Because he sees Prometheus’ consequences, Hugo feels he, too, will be punished for his actions. This foreshadows his arrest by the Station Inspector.

“I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.”

Hugo says this to Isabelle as they watch Paris from the glass clocks at the top of the train station. His statement shows his maturity and how he sees the world, a mindset that has helped him Overcome Loss and find a reason to keep going. Hugo also notes that people, like machines, become broken when they cannot serve their purpose. He includes Isabelle in this connection, acknowledging the loss of her parents and the blossoming of their friendship.

“I shut the door on my past. …I burned my old sets and costumes. I was forced to sell my movies to a company that melted them down and turned them into shoe heels. With the money I made from the sale of my films, I bought the toy booth, where I’ve been trapped ever since, listening to the sounds of shoe heels clicking against the floor… the sound of my films disappearing forever into the dust.”

This passage is a callback to Georges’s early comment about shoe heels attracting ghosts. Shoe heels remind Georges of how the films he sold out of necessity became shoe heels. Thus, the seemingly simple sound of shoes tapping on a floor—something Georges must constantly listen to—reminds Georges of his past and his struggle to Overcome Loss.

“His father’s notebook was safe inside a box in his bedside table. His floor was littered with drawings. He had a little drawer just for the ticket stubs of the movies he and Isabelle saw together.”

When Selznick describes Hugo’s room in his new home, he’s symbolizing a sense of closure and resolution for Hugo’s conflict. Georges has healed and allows Hugo to have his father’s notebook back. Hugo’s drawings show a connection to his father and Georges, emphasizing The Power of Family. Finally, the drawer of movie ticket stubs shows that the children can now enjoy movies. Georges has overcome his sadness and no longer resents reminders of his past, nor does he hide his identity.

“‘Then you know Prometheus was rescued in the end. His chains were broken, and he was finally set free.’ The old man squinted one of his eyes and added, ‘How about that?’”

This second reference to Prometheus illustrates a sense of closure and healing for Hugo. When Isabelle was reading to Hugo from her mythology book, Hugo associated Prometheus with punishment. Now, Georges makes the reference, showing how much he and Hugo have bonded. Georges is also the one who points out that Prometheus’s story had a happy ending. Like Prometheus, Hugo was set free from the consequences of stealing, and he gained a family in the process.