S positions himself at the foremast and studies the starry sky. He tries to pick up information about his location by using his limited astrological knowledge. He looks for something familiar, trying to connect his present to his past.

S is able to identify Aquila, Cygnus, and Gemini from the stars. But when he looks up to the sky again after a while, the shapes of the constellations change. The new shapes are rather imperfect–“The twins have detached from one another.” The imperfection of the constellations signals the imperfect, even a little tragic, ending of the book. Although FXC is in love with VMS, they are never going to be together. S has the opportunity to wipe out all who commits war and terror, but ultimately bows to the cycling of history.

As S. mourns the lack of connection between the present and the past, Jen laments how everything in her life is changing quickly. When asked about the things that are troubling her, she responds:

“the stuff you know–relationship, parents, school. But it’s me too.”

Jen says:

“I’m not interested in what I thought I was interested in. I don’t want what I always wanted.”

For Jen, researching with Eric on Ship of Theseus is an escape; the imaginary plot of the plot offers her solace from everyday trouble. While she is irritated by everyday people and things in “the real world”, she feels “exciting + relaxing@ the same time“ conversing in the marginal world. She is trapped in an existentialist crisis.

Eric expresses that while he is in hospital, he tries to “find something familiar.” In the end, he resides on the Ship of Theseus —

“It’s in your [Jen’s] hand. […] I loved this book before PSU, before Moody. Got back to loving it in a simple way.”

The Ship of Theseus is the support of Eric; it is also an escape for Jen.