The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a very diverse and complicated novel where images have an equal importance to the story as words. The story is set in the heart of Paris with the great monument, the Eiffel tower, looming over the train station where the whole story is basically set. Throughout the story we are accompanied by three main characters Papa Georges, Hugo and the heroine Isabelle. Papa Georges, the refined character who held all of his thoughts together. He changed dramatically throughout the novel and is trying to contain his personal thoughts ,which finally came out at the arrival of Hugo.
Isabelle is a Bookworm who loves to express herself in a more verbal tone. Isabelle is the key to the change between Georges and Hugo. Isabelle, understanding the truth of her very own dad, supports Papa Georges whilst giving him the real facts on what he is hiding. That brings us to Hugo the hero of the book. Hugo once an orphan boy fighting for survival turns his lie upside down. He begins to believe in himself and gain many key values along the way. Papa Georges, an old man with a minute build but very expressional face.
He was a total mess at the start of the novel, containing many of his personal problems to himself, even keeping them away from his very own family. Papa George was at the verge of a mental breakdown. He then understands the true meaning of life and begins to accept people for who they really are I. E Hugo. Papa Georges is only at this state as Hugo remembers himself as a child in the past, the past is too painful with the loss of his business. He went from a famous movie maker/magician to a lonely bitter shopkeeper. The only way seems to turn back and forget the past.
I am not an artist. I am nothing! I’m a penniless merchant, a prisoner! A shell! A windup toy”) Hugo was the storybook character did not exactly hold the perfect picture of good “Kid”. Hugo steals, lies, and doesn’t go to school. But despite this we feel for him and that’s because he’s a victim of really sad circumstances, none of this is really his fault The one thing this kid has going for him is that he’s the kind of character who makes things happen. In his search for answers and family, he’s daring, brave, and almost unstoppable.
The changing point in Hugo’s attitude was when he got the automaton to work. At first it ooked like the machine was doomed with no turning point in Hugo’s attitude then. The mechanical man hadn’t been writing… it was drawing) the mechanical man that Hugo has been so eagerly trying to fix has finally been transformed. It’s no longer a hunk of metal; it was alive (Not really). She’s a mystery in more ways than one. Isabelle doesn’t seem to be on Hugo’s side or Georges Méliès’. She agrees to help Hugo find his notebook because she thinks that it’s the right thing to do (or because she’s just curious and likes an adventure) but she also defends Méliès and loves him because he’s her godfather.
Though she may look like a sweet little girl, Isabelle’s got as much spunk and street smarts going for her as Hugo do, if not more. After all, this is a girl who sneaks into movie theatres and steals a precious necklace from her godmother just because it’s pretty. She knows how to get what she wants. So when Hugo steals that very same necklace, she doesn’t take it sitting down. Before he could cover the mechanical man, the door burst open. Hugo didn’t have time to scream as a dark figure lunged at him, knocked him to the ground, and landed on top of him.
His head banged painfully against the floorboards. She may be a young girl, but Isabelle certainly isn’t the kind of proper girl who’s afraid to get dirty and tackle someone who’s wronged her. The changing point is the when all of the characters are faced with the truth; all the pieces of the story were falling together. The automaton Hugo was so eagerly trying to fix was actually papa Georges and that was the reminder of the past messing with Georges mind bending the past and turning him into one big mess. The one big question can we fix Papa George?
Maybe it’s the same with people,” Hugo continued. Not all is lost for Papa Georges, though. Hugo and Isabelle are convinced that they can snap him out of his long dazed life and bring him back to reality. Maybe get him back to the famous moviemaker and magician he used to be. Once confronted with the creations of the past he remembers what he once was and why he word so hard to build up his legacy.
It’s all happening Hugo, Georges and Isabelle change throughout the course of the book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret, we see the actual change through the images of him as a boy (488-489), and then as a boy with a haircut who looks older and more put together. Georges Méliès transforms from a lonely, bitter old man to someone who embraces both his past and his future. And Hugo transforms from a lonely orphan to a well-loved member of a family. Even our lovely Isabelle changes, from the girl waiting for an adventure to come true to the heroine of the book guiding Hugo and Papa George along the way.
