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Mrs. Hurd
Madeleine Joyce is Joseph Brook’s first love. They meet when Joseph’s father Mr. Brook, a plumber, is doing work on Madeleine’s rich lawyer parents’ house. Madeleine’s parents, who are rarely home, often leave Madeleine alone or with a nanny. By implication, Madeleine and Joseph fall in love because they are both neglected children even though they come from radically different class backgrounds: Madeleine’s parents are very wealthy, she attends boarding school at Andover, and she plans to attend MIT. Joseph, on the other hand, comes from a working-class background and initially has no plans to attend college. After Joseph impregnates Madeleine, Madeleine’s parents take out an injunction against him and he never sees her again. Madeleine dies giving birth to her and Joseph’s daughter, Jupiter, so named because Jupiter was her and Joseph’s “favorite planet.”
Madeleine “Maddie” Joyce Quotes in Orbiting Jupiter
The Orbiting Jupiter quotes below are all either spoken by Madeleine “Maddie” Joyce or refer to Madeleine “Maddie” Joyce. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
“I always know where Jupiter is.”
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One day, walking home from school, Jack asks Joseph what his baby daughter’s name is. Joseph reveals that her name is Jupiter, which was his and the baby’s mother’s (Madeleine Joyce’s) favorite planet. That night, while Jack and Joseph are stacking firewood outside with Mr. Hurd, Jack asks where the planet Jupiter is in the night sky—and Joseph immediately points it out. When Mr. Hurd asks who he knew, Joseph replies, “I always know where Jupiter is.” Joseph’s obsessive tracking of the planet Jupiter through the night sky illustrates both his love for his daughter and his trauma. At this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est.
Chapter 4 Quotes
Madeleine Joyce was thirteen years old when she met Joseph Brook. She lived in a house that had pillars in the front and a wing on each side and statues on the lawn. Her father and her mother were both lawyers, so she spent a lot of time by herself in that big house when she wasn’t away at her prep school. Sometimes she had a nanny who lived in the north guesthouse, sometimes not.
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Orbiting Jupiter’s narrator Jack is retelling in his own words Joseph’s account of how he ended up a 14-year-old father in foster care. Joseph begins by describing how he met Madeleine, the eventual mother of his baby daughter Jupiter. Joseph’s description of Madeleine’s background nuances the novel’s depiction of parenting by emphasizing that parents can be good or bad regardless of their socioeconomic status. While Joseph’s working-class father Mr. Brook is physically abusive, Madeleine’s wealthy lawyer parents are neglectful. Joseph’s description of Madeleine’s home makes clear that her parents are not only wealthy but ostentatiously rich: the house has “pillars,” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad ten
She never asked him why his face looked so beat up.
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Jack is retelling in his own words Joseph’s account of how he ended up a 14-year-old father in foster care, including his account of his relationship with Madeleine Joyce, his baby Jupiter’s mother. Early in their relationship, Joseph started showing up at Madeleine’s house to hang out with his face “beat up”—but she never asked about the bruises. Madeleine’s silence about Joseph’s bruises illustrates her developmentally appropriate immaturity. While the novel suggests that Madeleine and Joseph begin a relationship in part to compensate for their loveless family lives (Madeleine’s parents are neglectful, while Joseph’s father Mr. Brook is physically abusive), Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia ea
He was going to be a father, he said.
He was only thirteen, she said again.
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Jack is retelling in his own words Joseph’s account of how he ended up a young teenage father in foster care. In this section of Joseph’s story, Joseph is explaining how his social worker, Mrs. Stroud, came to tell him that his 13-year-old girlfriend, Madeleine, was pregnant and that she was removing him from his abusive father Mr. Brook’s household to a group home. On the ride from Mr. Brook’s house, when Joseph expresses a desire to be with Madeleine, Mrs. Stroud tells him that he can’t see Madeleine (her parents have taken out an injunction against him). When Joseph Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint q
“I’m alone,” he said.
“You’ve got me,” I said.
He laughed, but not a happy laugh. “Jackie, I’m a whole lifetime ahead of you,” he said.
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After Joseph tells the Hurds how he became a father, that his girlfriend Madeleine died in childbirth, and that he wasn’t allowed to see his baby Jupiter, Joseph insists that he’s going to find Jupiter so that he won’t be “alone.” Jack insists that Joseph isn’t alone: “You’ve got me.” In reply, Joseph says that he’s “a whole lifetime ahead of” Jack. This exchange highlights an important dynamic in Jack and Joseph’s ultimately deep and loving friendship. At this point, Jack has already stood up for Joseph to prejudiced adults like Mr. Canton and Mr. Haskell, and he has already Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt r
Chapter 7 Quotes
“But he can’t love her just for himself. He has to love her for her, too.”
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Joseph has run away to Brunswick in search of his baby daughter Jupiter. While searching for Joseph in Brunswick with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Hurd, Jack shows Joseph’s photo to a librarian in a public library—and, by coincidence, discovers that the librarian is Jupiter’s foster mother. When the librarian tells Jack that Joseph can’t raise Jupiter because he can’t take care of her, Jack retorts that Joseph can love her. The librarian replies that he “can’t love her just for himself” but “for her, too.” The distinction between loving her “for himself” and “for her” suggests that Joseph’s desire Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaq
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Madeleine “Maddie” Joyce Character Timeline in Orbiting Jupiter
The timeline below shows where the character Madeleine “Maddie” Joyce appears in Orbiting Jupiter. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...the ice. Panicked, Jack yells the name that he’s heard Joseph cry in his sleep: “Maddie!” Joseph tells Jack to shut up. He starts jumping on the ice. Then, suddenly exhausted,...
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...not to worry about Mr. Canton because Mr. Hurd will call him—and to never say “Maddie” again. He also says that he’s the only one who called Madeleine “Maddie.” Jack agrees...
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Chapter 3
...The Hurds watch him glide around and around. Jack wonders whether Joseph is skating “with Maddie” and hopes he never stops. When Joseph finally gets off the ice, he has a...
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Chapter 4
In Joseph’s story, he meets Madeleine when they are both 13. Mr. Brook, a plumber, works on Madeleine’s fancy house, and...
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In autumn, Madeleine goes to Andover for boarding school. Joseph emails her every day from a library computer....
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When Madeleine comes home for Christmas, Joseph walks to her house. She answers the door and ushers...
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Joseph walks to Madeleine’s house every day of her Christmas break except weekends. On her final day of break,...
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The nanny finds Madeleine and Joseph. Soon after, Madeleine’s parents fire the nanny and take out an injunction against...
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When Joseph gets home, Mrs. Stroud tells him about Madeleine. Joseph is shocked that he’ll be a parent. He wants to be with Madeleine and...
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Joseph runs away from the group home and goes to Madeleine’s. Madeleine’s mother calls the police. Joseph tells the police that he wanted to explain to...
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...Mrs. Stroud visits and asks that Joseph sign away his parental rights—revealing to him that Madeleine has had the baby. Examining the papers, he learns that his baby is named Jupiter....
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...Mrs. Stroud points out that he just turned 14. When Joseph insists that he and Madeleine are the best parents for Jupiter, Mrs. Stroud explains that if he doesn’t sign the...
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Chapter 5
...interfered but thanks Jack for having his back, something no one has ever done except Madeleine. The boys stand together at the window, and Joseph points out Jupiter.
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...While Jack and Joseph milk the loving cows in the cold barn, Joseph talks about Madeleine: how she made him feel “warm inside,” her ambition to become an engineer bringing wells...
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Chapter 6
...Brook would have to sign those rights away on Joseph’s behalf, and he won’t until Madeleine’s parents pay him off. Madeleine’s parents want Jupiter adopted so they can get closure, but...
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Chapter 7
...the window but can’t see Jupiter. He wonders whether Joseph knows that he’ll never get Madeleine or Jupiter back. He speculates that Joseph knows but headed to Brunswick anyway.
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Chapter 8
...phone calls. Meanwhile, Joseph asks whether he’s told Jack about the first time he and Madeleine danced. When Jack says yes, Joseph goes out, smiling, to milk Rosie the cow. Jack...
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