At the heart of Hugo’s story is the power of family. In Part 1, Chapter 5, Selznick explains why Hugo lives alone in the train station. Through this information, Selznick illustrates Hugo's closeness with his father. Hugo grew up in his father’s clock shop, and “when he grew restless he made little mechanical animals out of the extra bits and pieces lying around. Hugo’s father displayed the creatures proudly on his workbench” (116). Later, when telling Isabelle about going with his father to the movies for his birthday, Hugo remembers “the times he had gone to the movies with Father and how much they had loved being together in the darkness of the cinema” (173). These examples illustrate a solid family foundation for Hugo while also making his father’s loss much more poignant.

Hugo's living situation is not ideal when he goes to live with Uncle Claude at the station. Uncle Claude is negligent, an alcoholic, and immoral. He teaches Hugo to steal, makes him sleep on the floor, and harshly reprimands him for his mistakes. Still, Hugo has at least familial security, and they share the Cabret bond of being horologists until Claude disappears. With Claude’s death, Hugo is left without any family to take care of him, and he must fend for himself.