The Keeper of Stars

“Thunder echoed over the vast expanse, and like starlight pulsing through the graphite sky, lightning twisted and forked, bridging the gap between the heavens and the earth.”

In The Keeper of Stars, lyrical imagery and figurative language are often used to depict the natural environment of Sims Chapel. This conveys a reverence for nature typical of the cultural setting. The emphasis in this image, on lightning connecting heaven and earth, suggests a more abstract connection between heaven and earth as well, one in which higher powers affect the lives of human beings. The simile “like starlight” suggests that destiny, represented by the novel’s star symbolism, is the mechanism through which the “heavens” act on the human beings of “the earth.”

“Jack’s ability to spin a yarn was one of the reasons George had agreed to hire him in the first place.”

The explanation that Jack’s storytelling ability is part of why George hired him to ferry tourists characterizes Jack as friendly and communicative. This foreshadows both Jack’s eventual expansion of the business and his later success as a writer.

“I know Ellie’s only here for the summer, but be careful who you give your heart to. Once it’s gone, there’s no takin’ it back, no matter how much you might wanna.”

Marie’s advice to Jack characterizes her as a concerned parent and practical person—she does not romanticize the idea of helplessly falling in love with someone inappropriate. Her practicality has limits, however. Her comments clearly convey the idealistic belief that romantic love is a permanent and life-altering condition. This is a belief that her son inherits and that shapes his behavior for the rest of his life.

“I think it has to do with the connection they make when they’re young. Even though life takes them in separate directions, they always feel the need to return to one another.”

Jack’s comments about the mating habits of mockingbirds foreshadow the trajectory of his and Ellie’s relationship. Because of the bond they are forming now, when they are young, Jack and Ellie will find their way back to one another even after life “takes them in separate directions.”

“If Mother finds out, there’s no telling what she’ll do.”

Ellie’s words are prescient, foreshadowing her mother’s eventual arrival in Sims Chapel to remove her from the temptation of Jack on the very day that Jack intends to propose to Ellie. Ironically, it is many years before Ellie herself realizes that her mother’s timing was intentional and that Marie deliberately interfered with Ellie and Jack’s relationship.

“Ellie realized…Jack was different from anyone she had ever met. He was wild, untamed. A little rough around the edges, but she figured these would smooth with time. In Jack she saw an equal, a partner.”

The asyndeton in “wild, untamed” creates emphasis by conveying the feeling of these adjectives piling up. This emphasis highlights Ellie’s youth and provincialism: Jack is extremely conscious of the rules and expectations of his society and follows them with great care—he is the very opposite of something “untamed.” Ellie sees him this way because, despite her belief that she sees Jack as an equal, she does not see Sims Chapel as equal to Columbus and does not believe that its culture is as sophisticated.

“All my life I’ve heard people talk about the feeling they get when they meet the person they’re supposed to spend the rest of their life with. I never really understood what they were talking about until tonight.”

Despite his claim that he does not believe in destiny, Jack’s diction here indicates a belief that marriage is something destined—that there is one person whom each other person is “supposed” to be with for the rest of their life. Moments later, after another assertion that he does not believe in fate, he will talk about owning a house on the hill as another part of his destiny. This shows that Jack’s beliefs about fate and free will are still evolving at this point in his life.

“That’s the way it works, hon. One minute you’re riding around, talking, having a good time, and the next you’ve given your heart away without even knowing it.”

Clara’s comments to Ellie emphasize the involuntary and sudden nature of love. Her assertion that this is “the way it works” makes it clear that she is talking about all romantic love, not just certain cases. This adds complexity to the novel’s discussion of the power of individuals to determine their own destinies, as Clara’s portrayal of love makes it clear that it is mostly out of an individual’s hands to control.

“She was convinced that she could have been happy with him, when it was no longer likely they should meet.”

Zora quotes from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Although she cannot know it, the quotation she chooses sums up Ellie’s position with Jack—Ellie grows to appreciate what she has with Jack only once the possibility of resuming the relationship seems to have fully slipped from her grasp.

“To the one who holds my destiny in her hands, my keeper of stars.”

The dedication of Jack’s book explicitly identifies Ellie with the phrase “keeper of stars,” which also forms the novel’s title. Ellie is an astronomy professor, so this is a reference to her own dreams and interests, but it also refers to the stargazing that Ellie and Jack did together when they were young and to the symbolic association between stars and destiny.

“But fate had whisked her away, ruining my chances of a happily-ever-after.”

Jack, writing about the end of the summer of 1950 from his perspective as an adult, confirms the idea that fate intervened to ruin his plan to marry Ellie. Given that the second half of the novel is about his and Ellie’s attempt to reunite, this points to the idea that people can overcome what “destiny” has planned for them, supporting the text’s theme of the power of individuals to determine their own destinies.

“Ellie woke the next morning, clinging to Jack’s book.”

The image of Ellie waking with the book grasped in her hands is a powerful indication of what it means to her. The diction “clinging” evokes the image of someone holding onto something with desperation, like a drowning person clinging to a life preserver. Jack’s re-entry into Ellie’s life has the potential to rescue her from her loneliness and her feeling that she has missed her chance at happiness, developing the novel’s arguments about Taking a Risk on a Second Chance at Love.

“Or maybe I don’t deserve to be with anyone.”

Ellie’s reaction to Zora’s questioning about why she keeps pushing away men who are interested in her indicates that she feels tremendous guilt about the way she treated Jack. Through reading his book, she has come to understand how badly she hurt him, and she now questions if what felt so necessary to her at the time was instead selfish and self-defeating.

“Was it fate that had brought her here? No, she thought, laying the responsibility at her own feet. She had chosen this path, and it all started when she decided to leave Jack.”

After Amelia asks Ellie about her regrets, Ellie decides that she is responsible for the way her life has turned out so far, not fate. This moment is an important part of the novel’s thematic argument about the power of individuals to determine their own destinies, as it characterizes Ellie as the kind of person who takes responsibility for her own decisions and explicitly identifies Ellie’s decision to leave Jack as the wrong turn that has resulted in her present unhappiness.

“Ellie couldn’t recall a time when she’d seen her mother express any emotion other than anger or disgust.”

Ellie’s characterization of Marie as exclusively negative and hostile does not take into account the times when Marie has expressed pride in Ellie’s accomplishments or a desire to improve their relationship. Ellie’s thoughts about her mother demonstrate the serious impact that Marie’s criticism and controlling behavior have had on Ellie—in Ellie’s mind, these parts of Marie’s personality eclipse everything else that might be true of her.

“Hell, Ellie, I moved on, that’s all. Not because I wanted to but because I had to—to keep from going crazy. But I never got over you, and never will.”

Jack’s explanation of his feelings echoes Ellie’s reasoning for breaking off their relationship many years previously—he has tried to move on with his life to save himself. Him moving on, however, just like Ellie, does not mean that he has stopped loving her. This continues to develop the text’s notion of real love as a permanent condition.

“‘Don’t worry about me. Besides, Sara will be at her mother’s tonight. Come on,’ he said, coaxing Ellie with a wink and a gentle nudge. ‘What do you say to supper at my place? I’ll cook.’”

Jack’s invitation to Ellie is juxtaposed against the recent scene of Sara cooking his favorite meal for him in the same kitchen he is now proposing to use to cook for Ellie. This underscores how much Jack has changed from the considerate young man he once was: Not only has he lied repeatedly to Sara about his feelings for Ellie, but at the first opportunity to rekindle his romance with Ellie, he also sneaks behind Sara’s back and offers to cook dinner for Ellie in the home he shares with Sara.

“By the way, as much as I loved old George, he was wrong about one thing—you got your house on the hill, after all.”

Clara’s final letter to Jack is a key moment in the text’s arguments regarding the power of individuals to determine their own destinies. It might seem like luck, or fate, that Jack finally ends up with his house on the hill because it is Clara’s choice, not his. Clara’s letter makes it clear, however, that it is his character and his actions that have persuaded her to leave him the house, meaning that Jack has unwittingly determined this outcome.

“Who has always been there, picking up the pieces, patiently waiting? Me, that’s who. So don’t tell me I didn’t have a right.”

As an outsider to the Jack-Ellie romance that forms the novel’s central conflict, Sara’s perspective is not often shared. Here, Sara has a chance to speak for herself; although her action in calling Marie was underhanded, she feels justified as the “main character” of her own life because she feels that it is her love story with Jack, not Ellie’s, that demonstrates “true love.”

“‘And you have no regrets?’

‘I thought I would, but I don’t. Zora is the love of my life, and she makes me happier than I ever thought I could be.’”

After Jack explains to Trey why he would not consider moving to Houston to be with Ellie, Trey shares that he moved to Bloomington to be with Zora. He does not say whether his prior circumstances were comparable to Jack’s, but his remarks convey clearly that love should be a top priority in making such decisions and send a message about The Impact of Individual Ambitions on Romantic Partnerships.

“Listen…it comes down to this: what are you willing to sacrifice to be with Ellie? If the answer is anything, then nothing can stand in your way, and if not, well…”

Jack feels that it is too much to ask for him to give up his community and business to be with Ellie in Houston. His mother tries to make clear to him the impact of individual ambitions on romantic partnerships by pointing out that his anger about having to make the choice doesn’t change the situation: He must decide whether he values Ellie above everything else and then act accordingly.

“Your dreams are way too big for me, Ellie. I suppose they always have been.”

For the first time, Jack considers the idea that he and Ellie are not meant to be together—that they are, in a fundamental way, unsuited to one another. At this moment, Jack reconsiders taking a risk on a second chance at love and places the burden of whether to move forward or not entirely on Ellie’s shoulders. Ellie will have to consider the impact of individual ambitions on romantic partnerships and make a decision about her priorities.

“For me, it’s quite simple…As much as I love work, it’s only temporary, but love—love is forever.”

Zora’s words support the book’s contention that love is permanent and of primary importance. This moment is a turning point for Ellie, shifting her thinking about the impact of individual ambitions on romantic partnerships in a way that leads to the eventual success of her relationship with Jack.