35 pages • 1 hour read
Stargazing
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Character Analysis
Christine Hong
Christine Hong is the protagonist of Stargazing. Christine comes from a traditional Asian American background. Her Chinese mother and Taiwanese father uphold a household with rigid expectations for behavior and performance. Christine plays violin and performs on stage. At the beginning of the novel, she is quite reserved and repressed. She has long hair and an often flat or unsure expression on her face. She is hesitant about the world around her and in particular about getting to know Moon. Christine also cares deeply about her grades and making her parents happy. When her grades start to slip after spending too much time with Moon, Christine spends time studying to catch up.
Christine judges Moon before knowing her and is nervous at the idea of someone who hurts people. As the novel progresses, she will become more empathic. Instead of judging Moon for her visions, she will listen with understanding. When Moon lashes out multiple times, Christine tries to understand Moon rather than rejecting her.
Christine’s personality and family are very different from Moon’s. While Christine was raised to be obedient and to conform, Moon was raised by a mother who sings to plants. Being around Moon opens Christine up to a different side of the world and herself. Christine goes from being shy and lacking confidence to being willing to perform a dance in front of the whole school.
Along with being overly cautious, Christine’s major flaw is jealousy. Christine is possessive of Moon and doesn’t like when Moon becomes popular at school. Christine intentionally embarrasses Moon by revealing Moon’s illustrations of her and the teacher she has a crush on. It takes several days and Moon’s successful surgery before Christine is ready to own up to her mistake. Christine also matures when Moon is diagnosed with a brain tumor. While Christine initially shies away and hides from the reality of Moon’s diagnosis, she eventually comes through and apologizes to Moon. Christine’s father helps Christine understand that the past cannot be changed, but that the future can.
Christine’s greatest demonstration of friendship is when she performs Moon’s favorite song with the dance group on stage, naming the group after Moon’s celestial visions and presenting Moon with a customized jacket. Afterward, the two are secured as friends for life.
Moon Lin
Moon Lin is the deuteragonist, or the character who is second in importance to the protagonist. She becomes Christine’s closest friend after she and her mother move into the spare unit of Christine’s home. When Moon is first introduced, she appears disheveled, and Christine is told that she’s known for being violent. Moon is so outgoing and confident that she hardly notices Christine’s hesitation and draws her into her fun-loving world. She is confident and has a zest for life.
Moon is not aware of her brain tumor, and views her hallucinations as visions of beings that will one day call her home to the stars. Moon often feels out of place and isolated, and the idea of a home elsewhere makes sense to her: “Someday soon I think they’re going to come get me, and I’ll be with my people again” (105). Moon draws pictures of her visions as well as other things she likes, such as her teacher Mr. Pennypacker. Moon is easily embarrassed and tends to either lash out or shut down when she feels vulnerable, such as when she attends Chinese class or when her sketchbook is exposed.
Despite losing her father and her family’s financial struggles, Moon displays an eternal optimism and joy that makes Christine constantly crave her company. Moon loves the K-pop artist Chara, a woman who isn’t afraid to be herself or challenge norms. Moon is always drawn with wide eyes and a simple, hopeful smile. Moon also has a more realistic appearance than is typical of some comic book characters, with a thicker body frame and messy hair. She is loosely based off Wang’s own experiences of having a brain tumor as a child.
Moon is open to making new friends, and quickly becomes Christine’s best friend. Moon encourages Christine to dance, paint her toenails, and to access the wilder side of her personality. After the surgery, Moon laments the loss of her visions and the prospect of a home in the stars, something that she took seriously as part of her identity. Moon wonders who she will be without her visions, but Christine assures her that she is great just as she is. Because Moon and Christine are so different from one another, their impact on each other is strong.
Mr. and Mrs. Hong
Mr. and Mrs. Hong are Christine and Vivian’s parents. While both characters are largely static in that they don’t change during the novel, Wang reveals more about each of them as the story progresses. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hong are relatively strict and care about Christine’s appearance and performance at the church concert. For example, Christine’s mother’s points out Christine’s open collar rather than complimenting her.
Christine’s mother is Chinese, and her father is Taiwanese; both parents want to impart their culture and traditions onto their children. Christine’s father is particularly hesitant about the idea of Christine doing more grown-up things like painting her toenails, and warns her not to imitate Moon. At the same time, he is emotionally supportive. On the night of Moon’s surgery, Mr. Hong takes Christine out for his favorite childhood dessert, shaved ice, consoling her during a difficult situation with something which always comforted him. He offers Christine some wise words when he says, “we can learn from the way we hurt the ones we love, and try to do better” (189). He encourages Christine to visit Moon when Christine is scared to do so, promoting growth.
Mr. and Mrs. Hong are altruistic and give back to their community. Mrs. Hong teaches Chinese to the neighborhood kids from her home, and both she and Mr. Hong come up with the idea of inviting Moon and Mrs. Lin to live with them.
Vivian
Vivian is Christine’s younger sister. She is a flat character and is defined almost entirely by her status as Christine’s younger sister. Vivian serves as a plot device. She becomes the center of one of Moon’s outbursts after being called stupid by a child in class: “He said stupid kids grow up to be homeless! I don’t wanna be homeless!” (92). This makes Moon feel vulnerable, prompting her to attack the boy.
Vivian’s outburst exposes Moon’s flaws. It also leads to a deepening of Christine and Moon’s friendship. Instead of shunning Moon, Christine listens to her friend and tries to understand her.
Madison
Madison, along with most of the other kids in school, is a friend and classmate of Christine and Moon’s. She is a static character who has short blonde hair and is always wearing a smile when she approaches various friend groups to talk and catch up. Madison comes from a wealthy family and is always talking about all of the places that her parents take her.
Like Vivian, Madison serves primarily as a plot device. When Madison invites the girls to her birthday party, it becomes the setting for multiple conflicts. Christine’s envy of Madison and Moon’s friendship leads her to expose Moon’s drawings, which triggers a seizure, leading to the discovery of Moon’s tumor. While the party is ripe with negative experiences and tension, it leads to the important outcome of saving Moon’s life.
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