August’s mother did not hide her son's astronaut’s helmet; it was his father who threw it away. August used the astronaut’s helmet to escape to a safe place that he had control over. He wore the helmet to escape people’s stares because he attracts unwanted attention due to his disfigured facial features. In fact, he believes that he is ugly, and he suffered a great deal of discrimination from his schoolmates who did not interact with him.

Unfortunately, the helmet is counterproductive in that instead of protecting August from the endless stares, it isolates him further. After the helmet disappears, August’s mother frantically searches for it but to no avail. It is not until August’s fifth grade graduation that his father confesses to having thrown the helmet away because he hated it so much. He said he had missed seeing his son’s face that he loved so much.