Loyalty to Family in Dark Matter
Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter is an extremely intriguing novel with impactful themes of family and loyalty. The story follows a scientist named Jason Dessen as he lives out the last normal day of his life with his Wife Daniela and Son Charlie. He goes through a mind-boggling journey of traveling the multiverse, understanding how it works, and trying to find his way back to his family. His goal of reaching his family in his original universe becomes even more challenging as he is faced with some unexpected visitors who have the same goal in mind.
Jason’s family is constantly on his mind, whether it’s making sure he’s only away from them for 45 minutes in the start of the book, or while he navigates the multiverse. Bleeding out Jason says “Fuck. They came early for the lottery. Dozens of them” (335) This was a moment when Jason was thinking less of himself, and more about his family. While it wasn’t exactly the smartest decision, he knew it was one of the only ways to end this war before it began. The decision does ultimately land in the hands of Daniela, but this shows how he was willing to let go of his family if it meant they would be safe or happy. Thinking about his family and how much he loves them was the key to getting back to them. This is how family plays such a big role in this novel.
Throughout this multiversal journey Jason is tempted many times to hook up with people who aren’t HIS Daniela. His companion throughout this journey, Amanda eventually catches feelings for Jason, as he is the only person she has left in her life after what happened in her universe. As Jason talks to Daniela about Ryan’s love for her, she says “How could he not be. I’m amazing.” The combination of his love for Daniela and his current situation leads the two of them to almost hook up. But before this happens, Jason hooks up with a Daniela from a different universe, BUT he didn’t know anything about different universes at the time, so he thought this was his Daniela. Once he realizes what he did he immediately feels regret and eventually has to tell Daniela later in the story. His loyalty for Daniela reaches beyond universes, and the fact that Daniela was the only thing he wanted in all of these universes speaks volumes about how important loyalty is in this novel.
This is truly an outstanding novel with interesting characters, themes and an overall spectacular plot. As a fan of science fiction, I believe the enjoyment of reading this book goes far beyond sci-fi fans, it’s a story anyone can enjoy. There's never a moment in the novel where you feel bored. There are questions that you don’t get answers to until you get to the end of the novel, and these answers will leave you extremely satisfied. You never know where the story is going to go next, which constantly keeps you reeled in, and never wanting to put the book down. This is truly one of my favorite books I’ve read, and despite how little or how much you relate to the main characters, you’re always rooting for them.
