The Family Tree Drawing: A Symbol of Chosen Family and New Beginnings in It Starts with Us

What Is the Family Tree Drawing?

In Colleen Hoover’s It Starts with Us, the family tree drawing is a homework assignment that Josh Corrigan, Atlas’s twelve-year-old brother, completes after a painful encounter with his biological father, Tim. Instead of drawing a traditional tree with many branches representing generations of blood relatives, Josh creates a tiny seedling with only two branches—one labeled “Josh” and one labeled “Atlas.” This image becomes a powerful concrete symbol of the bond the brothers choose to form, separate from their neglectful parents. The drawing first appears as an idea in Chapter Thirty-One and is physically realized in Chapter Thirty-Three.

Where the Symbol Recurs

The motif appears in two key scenes:

• Chapter Thirty-One (Atlas’s perspective): After Josh and Atlas drive to Tim’s house and watch him from the car, Josh decides not to knock. He tells Atlas that for the family tree assignment, he will “just draw a baby seedling” with “two tiny branches. Yours and mine. We’ll be on our own brand‑new, tiny family tree—one that starts with us.” Atlas is moved, feeling “heat behind my eyes.”

• Chapter Thirty-Three (Atlas’s perspective): Later, after Atlas meets his mother Sutton for dinner and returns home, he finds Josh asleep. On the table, Josh’s homework is completed: “He drew a tiny seedling sprouting from the ground with two small branches. One says Josh and one says Atlas.”

The motif is also referenced indirectly in Atlas’s wedding vows in Chapter Thirty-Seven, where he speaks of “the fact that I made it here, that we made it here, to our wedding day” as more than he dreamed—tying the idea of a new family to the seedling’s growth.

How the Symbol’s Meaning Changes

Initially, the seedling is a rejection of the past. In Chapter Thirty-One, Josh uses the idea to avoid drawing the full family tree that would include his absent father Tim and his neglectful mother Sutton. He says, “They never said how big the tree needed to be. I’ll just draw a baby seedling. They don’t have branches.” By refusing to add more branches, Josh symbolically cuts off the unhealthy roots of his biological family.

When the drawing is actually made in Chapter Thirty-Three, its meaning deepens into affirmation of chosen family. Josh doesn’t just omit the toxic parents—he actively includes Atlas as his only branch. The physical object—a seedling with two names—becomes proof that he has chosen Atlas as his family, and the drawing itself is left where Atlas can see it, communicating that bond without words.

By the wedding (Chapter Thirty-Seven), the seedling metaphor matures into the couple’s commitment to each other. Atlas’s vow to “cherish every second” echoes the devotion he has already shown to Josh, and the family tree drawing serves as the founding document of their new family unit.

Character Connections

Theme Connections

The drawing weaves together several major themes of the novel:

• Chosen Family: The central meaning. Josh and Atlas define family by love and shared experience, not blood. Their seedling is the opposite of the toxic tree their biological parents planted.
• Healing from Domestic Abuse: Both brothers have experienced neglect and violence. The drawing is an act of healing—Josh decides he is “a privilege” (as Atlas tells him) and that he deserves better.
• Second Chances: Atlas gets a second chance at brotherhood after years of separation. The seedling represents the new beginning he and Josh are given.
• Family Secrets and Reconciliation: The drawing is only possible after the revelation of Josh’s existence and the confrontation with Tim. It is the result of facing painful secrets, not hiding from them.
• Co‑parenting and Boundaries: Atlas’s firm boundaries with Sutton (he demands legal custody but offers dinner visits) mirror the clear structure Josh creates in his drawing: only two branches, no exceptions.

Four Study Questions with Answers

1. Why does Josh choose to draw a seedling instead of a full tree?

Josh’s decision stems from his disappointment in his biological father. After seeing Tim’s truck and realizing Tim “never even tried” to contact him, Josh accepts that his father does not deserve a place on his family tree. The seedling allows him to have a family that is entirely new and untainted by neglect. As he tells Atlas, “We’ll be on our own brand‑new, tiny family tree—one that starts with us.” The seedling represents hope and self‑determination rather than inherited obligation.

2. How does Atlas react to seeing the completed drawing?

When Atlas finds the drawing at the end of Chapter Thirty-Three, he is “overcome with relief” and “chok[es] back the emotional exhaustion.” He watches Josh sleep and realizes he looks at Josh the same way Lily looks at Emerson—“like she’s so full of pride.” The drawing confirms that Josh has made the same choice Atlas would have wanted—to reject the toxic parents and build a life together. It solidifies their bond and gives Atlas confidence in their future.

3. What does the seedling suggest about the novel’s view of family?

The seedling suggests that family is not determined by blood but by choice and nurture. Just as a seedling requires care to grow, the relationship between Josh and Atlas is something they must tend. The novel contrasts this with the dry, broken branches of Sutton and Tim—people who failed to nourish their children. The seedling’s small size also implies that a family can begin modestly and still be strong, mirroring Atlas’s journey from homelessness to owning a home.

4. How does the family tree motif connect to Atlas’s wedding vows?

In Chapter Thirty-Seven, Atlas tells Lily, “Two times in one life. How can one man be so lucky?” He acknowledges the fragility of love but vows to be grateful whether their marriage lasts “a day or decades.” This echoes the seedling’s vulnerability—a small, fragile start that needs commitment to survive. The vows also expand the idea of the seedling: Atlas no longer sees family as just himself and Josh, but includes Lily and, by extension, Emerson. The drawing laid the foundation; the wedding builds upon it.