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Part 1, Chapter 1: The Thief
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Magic, Cinema, and Imagination
Friendship, Honesty, and Vulnerability
Meaning and Purpose
Hardship and Maturity
Summary
Analysis
Hugo runs away from the old man’s shop and reenters the vent in the wall. The air in the vent is cool and damp. It is difficult to see the passageways inside the vent because there are only a few small lightbulbs to illuminate them. Hugo runs down one of the passageways, which is full of metal pipes crisscrossing in every direction. At the end of the passage, he comes to a spiral staircase set against a brick wall. Hugo makes his way up the staircase and into yet another hallway filled with metal pipes. At the end of this hallway is a door, and behind the door is Hugo’s room.
Hugo has intimate knowledge of the hidden passageways in the train station, suggesting he has been there for some time. The industrial setting of the novel has led some to suggest that Hugo belongs in the “steampunk” genre of literature. Steampunk incorporates the technology and aesthetics of the industrial revolution. Jules Verne—who wrote Around the World in Eighty Days—was a major influence on steampunk, and on Hugo, in particular.
Themes
Hugo’s room is one of a number of apartments that sit in the upstairs of the train station. The people who used to run the train station lived in the other apartments, but they left long ago. Now, the only apartment still in use is Hugo’s. Scattered around Hugo’s room are jars filled with objects he’s stolen from the old man’s toy store. Other than the toy parts, Hugo does not have many possessions. The only other things in his room are a bed, a bucket of tools, a deck of cards, some drawings, and a stack of uncashed paychecks with Hugo’s uncle’s name on them.
Hugo’s room contains a number of mysteries, which will all come to light over the next few chapters. Each object in his room requires an explanation. For now, they only hint at the truth of Hugo’s situation. For instance, the uncashed paychecks suggest that Hugo’s Uncle is no longer around. However, what happened to him is unclear. The only thing that is obvious is that Hugo is taking care of himself—a difficult task for any child, but especially for one as young as Hugo.
Themes
Hugo grabs his bucket of tools and heads off to work. As it turns out, Hugo’s job is to wind the clocks around the train station. First, he heads to the clocktower, where he winds the large glass clocks, which look out over the city. These clocks have massive gears and Hugo worries about getting his hand stuck in them. Hugo is careful and takes his job seriously. He makes sure each clock is exactly right and lubricates the gears as necessary.
Hugo takes place in the 1930s, meaning that child labor laws would have been in place in Paris for quite some time. This fact suggests that Hugo is either working illegally or without the knowledge of the station’s owner. Nevertheless, he clearly knows what he is doing and takes his job seriously.
Themes
Eventually, Hugo makes his way to a small clock, which allows him to see into the Station Inspector’s office. From behind the clock, Hugo looks into the office and sees a little jail cell. The cell frightens Hugo—he’s often seen people locked up in it, including children his age. Next, Hugo goes to the clock overlooking the old man’s toy shop. Hugo doesn’t want to go there, but he knows he must. When he peers through the clock, he sees the old man looking through his notebook. The sight makes Hugo furious, but he knows he cannot say anything. After tending to the clock near the old man’s shop, Hugo finishes his round, ensuring all 27 clocks in the station are correct and working as intended.
One of the advantages of Hugo’s job is that he can spy all throughout the train station without being caught. Hugo’s distress at seeing the old man go through his notebook suggests that there is something secret or perhaps sacred about its contents. Meanwhile, from the old man’s perspective, there is clearly something interesting about the notebook beyond what he is willing to say. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be looking at it for so long.
Themes
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