Communication in Beautyland: The Fax Machine as a Bridge Between Worlds

Defining the Thematic Claim

In Beautyland, Marie-Helene Bertino crafts a narrative where communication is both a desperate necessity and an almost impossible act. The novel’s central thematic claim is that to be human (or even partially human) is to live in a state of translation—forever trying to convert your inner cosmos into a message that another being can receive. The fax machine, a relic of analog technology, becomes the physical embodiment of this struggle. It links Adina Giorno to her extraterrestrial relatives, yet it also mirrors her halting attempts to connect with the people on Earth. The story argues that communication is never truly seamless; it requires patience, vulnerability, and a willingness to accept that some messages will arrive distorted or not at all.

Tracing Communication Across the Plot

1. Stellar Nebula (Birth) – The First Signal

The opening chapter, titled “Stellar Nebula” and subtitled “(BIRTH),” uses the image of a star’s formation to suggest the beginning of Adina’s life and her innate drive to reach out. A stellar nebula is a cloud of gas and dust where stars are born—a chaotic, creative force. This metaphor implies that communication, like a star, starts as a formless potential that must be shaped into something coherent. Adina’s very existence is a message from a distant galaxy, and her birth marks the first time her extraterrestrial family must try to communicate with her across the void. The chapter establishes that connection is woven into her origin, but it also hints at the difficulty of translating a cosmic being into a human form.

2. Massive Star (School) – Social Static

In Chapter 2, “Massive Star,” subtitled “(SCHOOL),” the school setting forces Adina into a system of human communication she does not fully share. The title “Massive Star” suggests she stands out—both rare and potentially overwhelming to those around her. However, school rules, peer interactions, and the pressure to conform often suppress authentic expression. Adina’s otherness makes her a poor fit for the social codes of a classroom or playground. Here, communication becomes a source of alienation: her attempts to speak about her true origins are met with confusion or disbelief, and the language she must use feels inadequate. The fax machine at home offers a private, unfiltered channel to her extraterrestrial relatives, contrasting sharply with the forced, shallow exchanges of school life.

3. Red Supergiant (Work) – The Labor of Connection

Chapter 3, titled “Red Supergiant” and subtitled “(WORK),” introduces the theme of communication as labor. A red supergiant is an aging star that burns through its fuel and finally explodes—a fitting image for the exhausting effort of maintaining links. In the workplace, Adina must perform conventional human interactions: pleasantries, instructions, small talk. These daily demands drain her while her real energy is spent transmitting and receiving faxes to her family. The chapter suggests that communication is not a spontaneous gift but a wearying job. The parenthetical “(WORK)” underscores that connection requires persistent output, much like the toil of a star that continues to radiate even as it nears collapse.

4. Supernova (New York City) – Explosive Encounter

Chapter 4, “Supernova,” subtitled “(NEW YORK CITY),” shifts the setting to a dense urban environment where countless messages compete for attention. A supernova is a stellar explosion that briefly outshines an entire galaxy—a moment of intense, transformative light. In New York, Adina likely experiences a critical exchange that alters her understanding of communication. Perhaps she meets someone who almost understands her, or she sends a fax so revealing that it cannot be taken back. The city itself is a network of signals, and Adina must navigate the noise to find a single, meaningful connection. This chapter may show communication at its most volatile: the potential for both breakthrough and destruction.

5. Black Hole (Death) – The Void of Silence

The fifth chapter, “Black Hole,” subtitled “(DEATH),” confronts the ultimate failure of communication. A black hole absorbs everything—light, matter, information—and gives nothing back. This chapter centers on a death, likely that of a key character, leaving Adina in a silence that no fax can fill. The black hole becomes a symbol for the permanent loss of a recipient. Even if Adina continues to send messages, they fall into an abyss. Here, the novel acknowledges that some connections are irretrievable. The communication theme reaches its darkest point, questioning whether any effort to reach across the void can withstand the void of death itself.

Character Connections

Adina Giorno

As the protagonist, Adina is both sender and receiver. Her dual nature—part human, part extraterrestrial—places her in a constant state of translation. She must decode the human world while encoding her true self for her family. The fax machine is her lifeline, allowing her to bypass the limitations of spoken language. Yet Adina’s isolation shows that even a reliable channel cannot fully bridge the gap when the two sides inhabit different realities.

Adina’s Mother

Adina’s mother represents the limitations of human communication. She likely loves Adina but cannot grasp the full scope of who her daughter is. Her attempts to connect may fall into mundane parent-child patterns—worries about school, health, behavior—while Adina’s true concerns remain locked in faxes. The mother’s perspective highlights the tragedy of incomplete understanding: even those closest to us may only receive fragments of our inner lives.

Extraterrestrial Relatives

The family on the other end of the fax line are the intended recipients of Adina’s most honest messages. They share her cosmic nature, so the channel should be clear. However, distance—both spatial and experiential—introduces noise. The extraterrestrial relatives may struggle to interpret Adina’s reports of human customs, just as she struggles to describe the scent of rain or the pain of loss. Their responses, if they come at all, may arrive delayed or encoded in unfamiliar symbols, reminding readers that even shared origins do not guarantee perfect communication.

Symbol Connections

The Fax Machine

The fax machine is the novel’s most direct symbol of communication. It converts paper into signals transmitted over phone lines and reassembles them on the other end. This process mirrors translation: you lose the original’s tactility and immediacy, but you gain the possibility of crossing vast distances. The machine’s analog nature suits the novel’s themes—it is imperfect, slow, and subject to failed transmissions. It is also physical, requiring paper and ink, grounding Adina’s cosmic messages in tangible reality.

The Golden Record

The golden record references the phonograph record included on NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, intended to communicate human culture to extraterrestrial beings. In Beautyland, this symbol inverts the direction of contact: instead of humans sending a message outward, an alien being (Adina) receives and sends transmissions back. The record represents the hope that a carefully curated message can survive the journey. Yet it also implies that such messages are frozen in time, fixed by the sender’s choices. The novel questions whether any message can truly capture the fluid, evolving nature of human experience.

The Black Hole

As noted, the black hole in Chapter 5 embodies the failure of communication. It swallows all signals, making it a symbol of absolute loss. The black hole’s presence in a chapter about death suggests that some connections are severed permanently. No fax, no letter, no word can cross that event horizon. It forces Adina—and the reader—to confront the limits of even the most determined effort to communicate.

The Stellar Nebula

The stellar nebula in Chapter 1 represents the creative potential of communication. It is a cloud of possibilities, waiting to coalesce into a star. For Adina, communication begins as a formless need—a drive to express something beyond human language. The nebula symbol reminds us that before there can be understanding, there must be a willingness to release something into the void, trusting that it might form a new connection.

Complexity and Contradiction

Bertino does not present communication as a straightforward good. The fax machine works, but it also creates dependency and exposes Adina to the frustration of one-way conversations. School and work force inauthentic communication, yet these spaces also provide the raw material that Adina transmits to her family. The black hole chapter offers no redemption—death silences the conversation without closure. The novel’s structure, moving from birth to death, suggests that every act of communication is shadowed by the possibility of its end. Even the golden record, a symbol of outreach, becomes a static artifact that cannot adapt to change. This complexity prevents the theme from becoming a simplistic celebration of connection; instead, Beautyland honors the messy, imperfect, and sometimes heartbreaking effort to be understood.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does the fax machine function as both a bridge and a barrier in Adina’s communication?
Answer: The fax machine bridges cosmic distances by allowing Adina to send written messages to her extraterrestrial relatives, but it also functions as a barrier because it is a one-way or slow channel—she cannot hear their voices or see their reactions. The machine’s imperfect reproduction and the delay in responses reinforce the gap between sender and receiver.

2. In what ways does the black hole chapter challenge the possibility of meaningful communication?
Answer: The black hole, as a symbol of death, represents an absolute end to communication. No signal can escape a black hole, just as no words can reach someone who has died. This chapter suggests that even the most determined efforts to connect may ultimately fail when faced with the finality of loss.

3. Compare Adina’s communication with her mother and with her extraterrestrial relatives. Which connection is more effective, and why?
Answer: Adina’s communication with her extraterrestrial relatives may be more honest and direct because she can express her true nature without the filters of human social conventions. However, her mother’s communication, though limited, is immediate and physically present. The novel implies that “effectiveness” depends on depth of understanding versus proximity. Neither channel is fully satisfying.

4. How does the school setting in Chapter 2 (Massive Star) represent a failure of communication?
Answer: School enforces rigid communication rules—turn‑taking expected language, social hierarchies—that exclude Adina’s atypical perspective. Her classmates and teachers cannot decode her alien frame of reference, so her attempts to share her reality are met with confusion or dismissal. This emphasizes how institutional settings can suppress authentic expression.

5. What role does the golden record play in communicating the human condition to Adina’s extraterrestrial family?
Answer: The golden record serves as a curated anthology of human culture, presenting a polished version of life on Earth. Adina likely uses it to illustrate her reports. However, the record’s fixed content cannot capture moments of joy, grief, or mundane detail that define daily existence. It symbolizes the tension between static representation and living experience.