Gus Bell, Eli’s elder sibling, possesses a unique ability: he can foresee the future. In Boy Swallows Universe, Lee Halley plays Gus.
Gus has not spoken since he was seven years old. He communicates with his family by writing letters in the air with his finger.
Gus often writes cryptic sentences, but these are no ordinary words; they foretell future events.
It is only when his predictions come true that his family understands the meaning of Gus’ cryptic sentences. For Eli, Gus had written the words “Boy Swallows Universe”.
Eli, after overcoming the challenges of exposing Tytus Broz, realizes that Gus meant to warn him that he had taken on too much.
Losing and finding his voice
When Gus was seven, Robert took Gus and Eli on a camping trip. While driving the boys, Robert had a panic attack and lost control of the car.
He drove the car into a lake. Robert saved Gus, but it was harder to save an unconscious Eli. Gus swam out of the lake and waited for his father and brother to come out.
Gus almost lost Eli that day. The incident left a deep impact on Gus, and that was the day Gus stopped talking.
Years later, Eli and Gus still have dreams about the accident. Gus keeps drawing pictures of him, Eli, and Robert driving into the stars.
When Ivan Kroll comes to interrogate Lyle about the drugs he has been hiding, Gus and his family are put in danger.
Before Lyle is dragged away by Kroll’s men, he writes a message to Gus in the air. Lyle expresses his love for Gus and Eli while giving a hint about the hiding place of his stash.
Kroll threatens to sever Eli’s finger if Gus does not tell him what Lyle said to him. To save his brother, Gus speaks for the first time in years.
Gus starts talking again. Initially, he does not speak much, but with time, he gets better. Seeing Eli in danger triggers Gus to lose and then find his voice.
Gus’ predictions
Gus holds the belief that individuals live the same life over and over again. After their death, they come back and do it again.
In an attempt to reflect on the mistakes he and Eli will make in their lives, Gus tries to picture their mistakes.
Random images pop up in Gus’ head. They do tell him what is going to happen in the future, but he cannot make sense of them.
Despite the confusion, Gus, who is a talented artist, sketches the pictures he sees in his mind, and the things he draws eventually come to pass.
Gus believes that his future self has reached out to him and Eli, and that is the person they had spoken to on the red telephone.
As they grow older, Gus tries to explain to Eli how the disconnected images he sees are connected to their future, but Eli finds it hard to believe him.
Gus had foreseen Eli finding himself between two fighting gangs, which happens when Eli goes to sell the drugs to Darren.
Among other visions, he also foresaw their mother getting beaten by Teddy and Eli’s final confrontation with Kroll on the clock tower. This allowed Gus to save Eli’s life.
The incident leads Eli to believe that Gus indeed sees visions of the future. Gus had predicted happy endings for himself and his parents, and, as with all his other predictions, these also came true.
Additionally, Gus’ girlfriend, Shelly, is able to get treatment for muscular dystrophy because Gus decides to give her the money that he and Eli had saved to buy their mother a house.
Gus wants to do charity work, so he and Shelly raise almost a quarter-million dollars for people with disabilities.
For their work, the two of them are included in the list of Queensland Champions, and Gus makes his family proud.
Also Read: Boy Swallows Universe summary and ending explained
