60 pages • 2 hours read
Clare VanderpoolNavigating Early
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
John “Jack” Baker III
John “Jack” Baker III is a 13-year-old boy and the protagonist and narrator of the book. He is the only son of parents Elaine Gallagher Baker and Captain John Baker Jr. Jack deeply loved his mother, and the grief and regret he feels over his death is the challenge Jack grapples with throughout the book. His grief and loneliness are intensified by the lack of a close relationship with his father, who was away fighting in World War II for the past four years of Jack’s life. John only returns in time for Elaine’s funeral and subsequently relocates Jack to a boarding school in Maine, far removed from everything Jack has ever known growing up in Kansas.
Jack is curious, adventurous, and competitive. Before Elaine’s death, Jack participated in numerous sports and competitive events back home, even performing well in them—he remembers placing second in a soapbox race in which he built his own car. He was also a member of Boy Scouts and is used to the outdoors and physical exertion. Jack’s curiosity is seen in how he learns the names of all the stars and constellations at a young age and later his unhesitating accompaniment of Early on the latter’s quest. Jack’s spirit of adventure and taste for competition temporarily dies down following Elaine’s death, but he feels it return when he is rebuilding the boat with Early in time for the regatta. He wants to win the regatta, though he reflects on how this is driven by a combination of the frustration at being unable to perform well the first time he rowed and the unprocessed anger and grief over his mother’s death.
This response is characteristic of Jack’s response to failure, setbacks, and challenges—he responds with anger and frustration, withdrawal, or both, which lead him to make questionable decisions. For instance, Jack’s frustration over John’s non-appearance at the regatta causes him to lash out at Early, ditching him during the race despite all the help Early has given him. Later, a guilty Jack reflects on how he reacted similarly to another friend back home, physically hurting him out of grief over Elaine’s death. Jack’s journey is one of Navigating Grief and Loss, which he does through cultivating relationships with others.
The most significant of these is his friendship with Early, who helps him navigate life at multiple levels. Early literally teaches him how to row and keeps his course steady. Metaphorically, this translates to Early helping Jack gain closure about Elaine’s death and find his bearings again through the quest that Jack accompanies him on. In the process, Jack gains a greater sense of empathy and understanding of alternative perspectives, including Early’s. His final reflection captures this, as he expresses gratitude for Early’s friendship and an acknowledgment that Early kept him from being swept away.
Early Auden
Early Auden is a 13-year-old boy, one of Jack’s classmates at Morton Hill, and effectively the first friend Jack makes at his new school. Early’s mother passed away in childbirth, and his father died of a heart attack before the start of the book. As his father was on the board of directors, following his death, Early receives a free ride at the school; he is also largely left to his own devices, allowed to stay in his workshop rather than the dorm and attend whichever classes he pleases. Fisher “The Fish” Auden, a legendary athlete at Morton Hill, is Early’s older brother, believed to have died during the war, though Early is convinced otherwise.
Early’s search for Fisher forms the heart of Early’s literal journey in the book, which is inspired by the story of Pi, which Early is able to read in the digits of the number. This ability makes Early unique, and, among other things, somewhat unrelatable to the other boys at school. Early has odd mannerisms, such as counting and sorting jellybeans to calm himself down, and rigid behaviors, such as fixed days in the week to play specific kinds of music. His rigidity also translates to an unshakeable conviction in his beliefs and deductions to the point that he cannot tolerate any disagreement without getting extremely upset.
Despite several of Early’s assumptions and beliefs seeming absurd, Early is proven right about all of them, from something as insignificant as the presence of venomous snakes in Maine to something as momentous as Fisher being alive or the number pi not ending after all. As the story is told from Jack’s perspective, he is the character who experiences the most learning and growth; however, Early has his challenges, too, related to understanding that in life, even if his calculations add up, there may be instances where he doesn’t receive the expected outcome. For instance, Early is initially unable to understand why Fisher doesn’t want to return, and Jack is the one to explain Fisher’s grief to him. One doesn’t gain much insight into the inner workings of Early’s mind; however, the end of the book sees him slowly becoming more social and less rigid, interacting with his peers and attending classes more regularly. Just as Early keeps Jack from being swept away, Jack helps Early loosen up more, a necessary skill to integrate successfully into society.
Captain John Baker Jr.
Captain John Baker Jr. is Jack’s father. He leaves to fight in World War II when Jack is nine and is practically absent from his son’s life until the latter is 13. John returns as the war is winding down, in time for Elaine’s funeral. Owing to his prolonged absence from Jack’s life, he does not initially have a close relationship with his son.
In keeping with his military training, John is presented as stoic and silent, uncomfortably communicating with his teenage son. When John drops Jack off at school, he is unable to offer any words of comfort before leaving. Even his communication about being unable to attend the regatta is delivered via a short telegram. John’s way of processing grief or reacting to challenges is through action, which he later explains to Jack. He helps Jack unpack and set up his room at his new school, similar to how, following Elaine’s death, he packs up and organizes her belongings, getting rid of things he believes are redundant. Like Early, John craves order and organization to help things feel right again.
Jack, however, takes his father’s lack of communication to mean that John doesn’t love him and that Jack isn’t a priority. Early helps Jack understand John’s grief and why he may be acting as he is. John’s affection is communicated through action, not words, much like Early himself. Even before Elaine’s death, John is the one who taught Jack about stars and constellations and even helped complete the soapbox car. John’s love is most evident when the boys return, and Jack is met with relief rather than admonishment. John further takes the boys to see Dr. Stanton and helps bring Fisher back home. Through Jack’s friendship with Early, he can understand John better, and father and son reconnect by the end of the book. This is displayed in how Jack chooses to stay in Maine and invites John to help him build a new boat.
Fisher “The Fish” Auden
Fisher “The Fish” Auden is Early’s older brother. He was a legendary athlete at Morton Hill Academy, and his number was retired, and his boat was enshrined in the school boathouse after his graduation. After leaving school, Fisher enlisted in the Army and is believed to have been killed during the war. Early is the only one to suspect that he may still be alive, and his search for his brother fuels the action in the story.
In keeping with Early’s calculations, Fisher is discovered to be alive. However, the grief and regret he feels over the loss of his squad and his inability to have helped them in any way keep him away from home. Fisher’s feelings and reactions parallel Jack’s and Pi’s responses to the deaths of their loved ones—Fisher experiences the same loneliness and sense of being adrift and withdraws from everything and everyone he knows. Jack recognizes this and is able to explain this to Early, as well as get John to talk Fisher into coming home. Fisher’s return home and eventual rehabilitation and recovery is a happy ending to Early’s quest and is mirrored in Early successfully proving Dr. Stanton wrong about pi ending.
Archibald MacScott
Archibald MacScott is the antagonist of the book. The boys meet him on their quest and learn that he is tracking the big bear; Jack later recognizes him as the hunter from the newspaper article in Early’s room. MacScott becomes interested in the boys when he learns that they, too, are looking for the bear, and he begins hunting them, too.
Although MacScott starts as a parallel for Darius, the pirate captain in Pi’s story, he comes to resemble one of the lost souls that roam the catacombs in Pi’s story. Early’s description of the catacombs aptly describes MacScott’s experiences in the caverns, where MacScott has kept Martin’s skeleton, his “darkest secret,” and where he chanced upon his “accidental treasure,” Martin’s gun.
MacScott is also an example of Gunnar’s insight into how people hunting something obsessively are usually running from something else. MacScott is haunted by regret and guilt over Martin’s death all his life, and this has him chasing every hunting trophy in Maine, including the bounty on the big bear’s head. Although the same can also be said of Gunnar and Jack, who are both running from confrontation in their own ways, MacScott is an example of what happens when one avoids putting things right even when given a chance. He believes himself too far gone to go back and tell Eustasia the truth, and over time has given himself over to his basest instincts, unhesitating even in hunting the boys.
MacScott’s end is fitting, not only as a form of poetic justice but also because MacScott knows he cannot escape the pain caused by his life’s actions. He will not find peace any other way; death is his only option, and he goads the bear into attacking him before he later supposedly drowns in the river. Furthermore, MacScott’s character is also an example of the unexpected connections in life that Gunnar and Elaine both talk about in the book: From Darius, to a lost soul, to a connection with Eustasia and Martin, MacScott’s story parallels multiple facets of Pi’s story.
