“Jack might believe in wishing—or he had once upon a time—but Hugo didn’t. Hard work and dumb luck got him to where he was. Nothing else.”

This passage determines the dual need for both wishes and hard work that persists throughout the narrative. Hugo may not acknowledge that he has his own wishes for Jack, but he’s actively working toward them through his own efforts.

“No. No more. Time’s up. Time to go. By this time next spring, he’d be gone. He couldn’t sit and watch his old friend fade like ink on old paper until no one could read the writing anymore.”

Jack’s melancholy is such that even those closest to him see little hope for him without a significant change in his demeanor. This passage depicting Hugo’s thoughts underscores how dire Jack’s situation is and how much he’s at risk of losing the companionship of the person he loves like a son.

“Poor thing, he looked so tired. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his shoulders drooped with exhaustion. A seven-year-old child shouldn’t have eyes like a world-weary detective working a particularly grisly murder case.”

This passage highlights the cost of childhood trauma and the need for good parenting. While Lucy can’t necessarily fix all of Christopher’s problems, her inability to adopt him only prolongs his lack of a stable home environment, without which Christopher can’t overcome his past.