Items from outer space intertwine to symbolize disappointment in Christopher’s story, “Pluto.” Space becomes their escape from life. After learning about Pluto, it becomes their “favorite planet to travel to” (125). Pluto becomes a haven of the imagination for Christopher and Auggie. When Auggie’s belief in Pluto is shattered, it violates the sense of excitement and safety that Pluto has brought him. When Auggie bursts into tears, Christopher knows how Auggie feels but “couldn’t explain it to them exactly” (163).

His parents’ separation is painful for Christopher. Just like Auggie and Christopher could always depend on Pluto, Christopher thought he could always depend on his family. His parents promised him a special room and a new dog. Instead, he gets a hamster, and the stars from his bedroom keep falling off the ceiling. In the beginning of his narrative, the fallen stars disappoint him: “Mom had put those stars on the ceiling when we first moved in. That was back when she was trying to do everything she could get me to like our new house in Bridgeport” (113). At the end of his day waiting for his mother, feeling abandoned, and then feeling guilt for her accident, Christopher tries to communicate how he feels with his parents when he asks them, “Did you know that a day on Pluto is 153.