Cosmic

Cosmic explores the theme of growing up through Liam Digby’s unique situation. He’s a 12-year-old who looks like an adult and must take on responsibilities far beyond his years. Liam’s height is a constant reminder of his premature maturity. Adults constantly mistake him for a grown man, which allows him to enter competitions and even board a rocket under the guise of fatherhood. Emotionally, however, he’s still a child. While in space, he realizes that his father is no longer there to help him and that he’s finally growing up. The moment shows a turning point in Liam’s internal development, as he begins to face life on his own.

Liam’s transformation is also apparent in more everyday experiences. When he starts shaving, his mother fears that he’s growing too fast, expressing both concern and denial about something inevitable. His emotional growth is pushed forward by situations in which he must act like a real adult. For instance, before the rocket launch, Liam ensures that everyone else is strapped in before securing his own straps. This demonstration of responsibility shows a maturity that contrasts with his earlier recklessness.

At the same time, Liam also begins to question what adulthood offers. Observing the supposed rewards of growing up, he asks, “What’s the POINT in forfeiting your childhood if all you get for it is filling in forms?” (133). This quote emphasizes a growing sense of dissatisfaction with adulthood. He realizes that adults miss out on spontaneity and fun, while children are expected to transition into these roles without fully understanding what they’re giving up. The other children (Max, Florida, and Hasan) are already acting like adults despite not feeling that way. Liam remarks, “Hasan fretting all the time about money. Max always making sure he was first. Florida too, going on about color coordination and stuff. They weren’t proper kids. They were like trainee grown-ups” (177). He says this with an air of distaste, as though he’s disturbed by the way that these children are no longer allowed to be children.

Despite being treated like an adult, Liam’s thoughts, fears, and desires are those of a child until he fully embraces his leadership qualities while training for the space mission and while in space. He’s continuously pulled between two identities. When the others go to the moon, Liam is completely alone in the Dandelion, floating in silence around the dark side of the moon. It’s a moment of profound solitude and transformation, forcing him to accept himself as both still a child but also a caretaker of others. He doesn’t lose touch with the power of childhood, imagining a future where “in their brightest memories—they would always be kids” (327).

This hope emphasizes Liam’s desire to protect a part of himself and the other children that adulthood can’t take away: the “inner child.” Cosmic uses Liam’s unusual and extreme situation to explore the ordinary but powerful experience of growing up. Through responsibility, solitude, and reflection, Liam evolves from pretending to be an adult to understanding what maturity means.