Friendship, Honesty, and Vulnerability Theme Analysis

In The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Hugo has a hard time trusting people. After the deaths of his father and uncle, Hugo is left to fend for himself, and he becomes wary about letting other people know his secrets. This issue first pops up when Georges and Isabelle ask Hugo about the contents of his notebook. The truth is that the notebook belonged to Hugo’s father and contains drawings of the automaton, which are important to Hugo. However, Hugo does not want to tell Georges the truth because he is afraid to be vulnerable. He finds the idea of telling Georges about his father’s death too overwhelming and would prefer to give up his precious notebook instead. Hugo’s behavior suggests that he has not emotionally processed his father’s death. Furthermore, Hugo blames himself for his father’s death because he was the one who asked him to fix the automaton. Therefore, guilt may also play into the reason Hugo does not want to open up to Georges.

Meanwhile, Georges has a similar issue. Although Hugo doesn’t know it, the contents of the notebook are important to Georges as well because it contains drawings of an automaton he made when he was a magician. However, Georges purposefully keeps this information from Hugo because he, too, feels vulnerable and does not want to share that vulnerability with someone else. Georges’ vulnerability stems from the troubled relationship he has with his past. For Georges, even thinking about the past is too difficult to bear. In fact, when he is forced to do so later in the book, he breaks down crying and becomes ill. Therefore, like Hugo, much of the reason Georges cannot be vulnerable with someone else is because he himself has not come to terms with his past.

Toward the end of the novel, Hugo finally opens up to Isabelle and tells her the full truth about the automaton, the death of his father, and the notebook. At first, Hugo is hesitant; he doesn’t know how Isabelle will react and he isn’t sure whether he can trust her. However, after getting everything off his chest, Hugo feels better, and Isabelle thanks him for sharing his secrets with her, leading to a stronger friendship between the two of them. On this basis, they are able to work together to reconnect Georges with his past life. As a result of their actions, Hugo and Isabelle become like brother and sister, as Georges adopts Hugo after learning about his life in the train station. In a way, then, Hugo experiences a renewed family life—it can’t replace the family he’s lost, but it does help heal his past wounds, and it does the same for Georges. These positive events only occur because Hugo accepts Isabelle’s friendship and takes the risk of being honest with her. Ultimately, the story shows that honesty and vulnerability are vital to healthy friendships and can lead to better, more profound relationships.