59 pages • 1 hour read
Stuart GibbsSpace Case
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Space Dust
In Space Case, which is set on the moon, Stuart Gibbs strives to portray the lunar base authentically. Accordingly, Gibbs includes multiple mentions of the actual surface of the moon, which has a lot of dust on it. The moon dust, or space dust, as Dash sometimes calls it, serves as a critical symbol in the novel of the ways that humans affect—and are affected by—the world around them.
What NASA and the government want is an “edited and sanitized version” (9) of events; mentions of space dust often portray how reality is the opposite of that. Dash describes how the “pristine, white blanket of moon dust” (46) has been “trampled […] and flattened” (46) by the humans on the moon. The mental image most people on Earth have of the moon is not accurate to the messy reality. In addition, the dust is forever causing issues, getting tracked inside, trying to land on solar panels, and getting sucked into machinery. Humans would prefer things to run smoothly, without friction or interference, but dust is ever present and must always be overcome. It seems that Dash would prefer the moon to remain in its “pristine, prehuman condition” (64). However, getting messy and making mistakes is part of growing up, and finding ways to leave your own unique mark amid the chaos of other people matters too.
Dash’s character growth to this effect is punctuated by his decision to subvert authority and go onto the lunar surface. While on the lunar surface, Dash ends up finding his own patch of untouched dust that “had somehow remained pristine” (277): “unable to resist, [I] planted my feet right in it, making myself the first human to ever set foot on that spot” (277). Shortly after, Dash further uses the dust to his advantage while covered in it after the robot arm has knocked him down; Dash realizes he will be “much harder to spot lying still” (287). Taken together, the appearances of this symbol help portray Dash’s growing awareness of the themes as part of his journey toward adulthood.
Communication Links
Communication links, which are referred to mainly as “ComLinks” on the base, are the only interface available for the lunarnauts to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues back on Earth. The ComLinks require an open channel, of which there are many, but these channels are closely monitored by base staff with the appropriate clearances and by NASA. In the opening of the novel, Dash considers the ComLinks primarily important because they allow him to “talk to [his] friends on Earth” (40), though they take on different meaning later in the novel, as communication becomes more critical for various reasons.
The ComLinks, somewhat ironically, symbolize how communication can fail. Widely available means of communication does not necessarily mean honest or useful communication. Dash starts the novel well aware of how strictly NASA monitors any communications with Earth. Though he posts video logs regularly, he acknowledges he makes most of the content up: “since NASA policy states I can’t say anything bad about the moon base, there isn’t much to talk about. So I usually goof around, making up stories that are obviously ridiculous” (132). Dash’s frustration and awareness of the limitations of censored communication grow as the novel progresses. After Nina forbids Dash from saying anything about Dr. Holtz’s death being suspicious, she orders him to create one of his video logs about the event, reminding him she’ll review it before he posts it. Dash realizes that this demand is a profound manipulation: “Nina was forcing me to publicly back her side of the story. If I decided to push the murder angle later, I’d come across as fickle” (132).
Part of Dash’s growth over the course of the investigation involves coming to terms with all the ways in which communication can fail or be manipulated. Despite how much all the moon base members interact, living in close quarters with one another, a great deal lurks under the surface to be discovered. The ComLinks, similarly, are everywhere and appear to offer ample opportunity for communication. Yet Dash knows his friends on Earth have no real concept of what living on the moon is actually like. Dash’s development of a cautious attitude about the ComLinks shows his increasing maturity and nuanced view of the world.
Visibility
The concept of visibility is a motif throughout the novel that supports many of the key realizations that Dash goes through in order to solve the case. The opening pages of the novel, which lay out both the physical space of the base and the list of characters, make it clear from the start that the novel will share as much information as possible, at least from Dash’s perspective. In that sense, the narrator aims for as much visibility as possible, though he comes up against many adults who attempt to hide or render themselves invisible, including Dr. Holtz’s killer, Garth Grisan.
Visibility is often flagged to readers through descriptions about the lack of privacy and personal space on Moon Base Alpha. Dash notes that Nina’s door being left open is atypical because “no one ever leaves their door open” (31). Later that day, at dinner, he watches his parents being nice to Dr. Marquez and reminds readers that “[w]hen you live in an enclosed space with only twenty-two other people, you can’t ever really afford to offend anyone” (44). Both of these moments serve to illustrate, alongside others, the heightened visibility that people experience when living in a small space.
The effect of the increased visibility that Dash and the other lunarnauts experience is counteracted by people who intentionally obscure their actions or motivations. Even Dash sometimes pushes himself to keep his own truth under the surface, like when he talks over the ComLinks to Riley on Earth. The character who renders themselves the most invisible, though, is Garth, who pretends to be a quiet, well-meaning maintenance person despite being revealed at the end of the novel to be a cunning, militaristic person who committed murder. Once Garth’s true identity is revealed, it becomes clear why he was so often right near Dash or other people involved in the investigation, like early on, when Dash is surprised to “find Garth Grisan behind [him]” (47). Garth’s intentional use of a disarmingly quiet persona helps him escape visibility even within the confines of Moon Base Alpha.
Zan, who is ultimately revealed to be one of the aliens that Dr. Holtz has made contact with, plays with visibility on several levels. She is literally invisible to the rest of the moon base members, though Dash does not realize this until the end of the novel. Her true nature (an alien) and her true form are also invisible to Dash, with the exception of her eyes. Yet that exception is quite meaningful. Zan notes that Dr. Holtz once told her that humans view the eyes as the window into a person’s soul. By allowing some part of herself to stay true in how her eyes manifest, Zan is therefore visible in a way that many of the humans on the moon base are not.
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By Stuart Gibbs
