Something from Rusty Lake Roots I think about a lot
So as a lil refresher, Emma (an alchemist and astrologer) had a son, Frank, who very clearly was her pride and joy. At a very young age, Frank was trapped in the well on the family’s estate by his insane and evil uncle Albert. Emma desperately searched for Frank, even consulting the stars and alchemy, but of course he was never found. All the while, Frank was right in her back yard. After Frank’s disappearance, we can see Emma’s health suffers, she grows paler and seems to wither away, until finally she takes her own life.
Okay, stay with me here, this is the level to which I overthink things:
1. We can assume that Emma must have taught young Frank about the stars to some extent. In her final letter to him she tells him to look for her in the stars, and even after years in the well, Frank knows how to operate her old telescope and stuff. It was probably a sweet little special thing for them. A mother sharing her knowledge with her son so he can master the magic too. Frank probably found comfort in the stars.
2. As a child, Frank had thick glasses. Considering how young he was, he must have had REALLY bad eyesight.
3. When we see Frank as an adult, he doesn’t have his glasses. They likely broke on his initial fall.
Frank spends a total of 33 YEARS in the well being kept alive by Albert, seemingly just for the the sadistic thrill of it. Frank’s entire childhood, adolescence, and part of his adulthood was spent starving in a cold, wet prison without the one person he loves the most. His mother.
And his glasses were broken.
Meaning that during his countless nights he spent staring up into the night sky, he couldn’t even see the stars.