The Atlas Paradox

An issue that several characters in The Atlas Paradox return to repeatedly is the question of balance. In their studies and relationships, balance isn’t only something to consider intellectually but also something that impacts their lives. Parisa, Atlas, and Reina all delve more deeply into the concept of balance, understanding it as integral to their studies, lives, and even the world itself.

One way that the novel explores balance is through how the initiates’ relationships shift after Libby, the sixth member, disappears. Parisa, with her telepathic abilities, is sensitive to the balance of the initiates, and she notes, “With Libby gone, the balance of everything was so disrupted” (48). As Reina reflects, “Like an old war wound that pained them only when it rained, the missing hum of Libby Rhodes and her anxiety seemed to haunt the standing space between the five initiates, unspoken” (23). She recognizes that Libby was their conscience and that without her the group lacks that aspect of its balance. The irony of this is that when Libby does return at the novel’s end, she has so changed that she’ll no longer occupy her previous role in the group—their balance has forever changed.