The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 9

Chapters 10-20

Chapters 21-30

Chapters 31-40

Chapters 41-51

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Darkness and Light

Darkness and light are combined here into one symbol because, as the novel shows, The Duality of Light and Dark means neither can exist in isolation. As Nico and Will move through the Underworld and Tartarus, darkness is used as visual motif to enhance the theme of Trauma and Mental Health. The settings are literally dark, and this darkness can disorient and scare people who aren’t used to it, like Will. As they make their way through the dark, the teens navigate new strategies to communicate healthily and tend to their mental wellness.

However, this motif only has a meaningful effect because of the symbolic associations between darkness and negative emotions like fear, anger, frustration, jealousy, etc. Light, on the other hand, symbolizes positive emotions like optimism and hope. People should have both darkness and light within them: an imbalance to either side is not healthy. Will pulls himself out of balance in the direction of light emotions. He literally and figuratively tries to “lighten the mood” (196) in the Underworld: He thinks jokes and levity can fix this place, not understanding that darkness and light are complementary and must coexist. Nico, on the other hand, “never let anyone believe that [he] was anything but a ball of darkness” (461). He has an imbalance toward the dark and is initially “afraid of the light” (461). He is afraid of having hope and showing love because of all the loss he’s experienced.

Due to each other’s influence, the boys each end up more balanced and learn that it is not sustainable, healthy, or realistic to be entirely light or dark. This realization makes them more mature and more generous toward themselves, and more supportive partners for each other.

Choice and Change

Bob the Titan is a character in the novel, but he also its MacGuffin, or the narrative feature that triggers and directs its plot. The novel’s story revolves around Will and Nico’s quest to rescue Bob from Tartarus. After being thus saved, Bob helps the boys defeat Nyx and escape Tartarus because Bob symbolizes choice and the possibility of change. While Bob initially joined the demigods’ side because his memories were washed away in the Lethe, once his memories came back, he chose to remain reformed and fight alongside Percy, Annabeth, and Nico the first time they went to Tartarus.

Nyx imprisons Bob because she “doesn’t like beings who reject the form they were ‘destined’ for” (182). This really means that she doesn’t like beings who reject the form she thinks they were destined for. She believes in absolutes. She does not believe in people having choices or in their ability to change. As a “former Titan” who chose to be something different, Bob symbolizes everything Nyx hates and acts as “evil catnip” for the goddess (182).

Nyx tells Bob that his “new name, this new personality…it’s all a lie!” (400). Bob admits that he can never “stop being a Titan” (400), but argues that it’s “possible to change” (400) aspects of his personality, decision-making, and moral compass. Change is good because, like Bob, it means we are reassessing our past actions and deciding whether they represent who we are now. If they don’t, we can change and find better ways to be in the future.

Cacodemons/Cocoa Puffs

The Cocoa Puffs, whose nickname comes from the term cacodemons, are physical personifications of Nico’s darkest thoughts and emotions—a literalized version of a colloquial idiom. Each Cocoa Puff symbolizes an emotion linked to a specific memory. For instance, Shame is a “catlike cacodemon with needle-sharp teeth” (408). When Nico touches Shame, he relives the moment Cupid forced Nico to out himself in front of Jason. Shame thus symbolically embodies Nico’s prevailing emotion during the outing—internalized homophobia that comes from Nico’s experiences of having been born in Italy in the 1930s, when homosexuality was reviled, pathologized, and criminalized. Nico lived much of his life ashamed of being gay before finding acceptance at Camp Half-Blood.

Another Cocoa Puff, Isolation, is the first one to warm up to Will, who felt isolated by the secrets Nico kept and the lack of trust they implied. At first, Nico thinks that he needs to leave his demons behind in Tartarus, so he is surprised when the Cocoa Puffs chase their boat and climb aboard. Nico and Will then realize that letting your demons go doesn’t necessarily mean forgetting them. Nico says, “I can’t ever escape from what’s happened to me. But I can learn to live with it” (417). Forgetting his demons would make Nico a different person. In addition to being personifications of negative emotions, the Cocoa Puffs also symbolize how to work through Trauma and Mental Health.