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Messenger

Well, okay, this one seemed better than the last one in the series. I loved how we picked up from Matty (whose name was Matt in Gathering Blue; remember that thing about the synonym-age-thing I talked about before?) and saw his new role in life in Village, the kind people we were hinted to at the end of the previous book. Like each book in the series, this novel explores the lives and customs of a different society and the tragic pitfalls that arise when morality is traded for materiality.

I loved the short but cute relationship between Matty and Jean; okay, she kissed him near the end on the lips so we know what they were doing. I also loved how we get to see Jonas again, although in here he’s called Leader and is mayor of Village. Throughout the novel, Leader (I’ve call to him this now) evoked a sense of benevolent wise rule over Village, and I really liked the importance he had in this novel as one of it’s central characters. We also get to get accustomed to Seer (‘the blind man’ or ‘Kira’s father’) and are introduced to a whole plethora of characters, and here the surrounding forest in Gathering Blue is personified by it’s name, Forest, and how it acts as the plot develops. It’s its own character as it possesses the ability to have independent decisions and actions.

The plot was interesting enough to not be boring, and the novel began in a descriptive aesthetic, with the first scene being Matty and Seer cooking together in such vivid prose that I could see Lowry’s genius shimmer through the words. There were very good descriptions here and there, and I’ve come to liking the way Lowry writes. She has this humble yet slightly flamboyant way of writing, perfectly suited to her occupation as a children’s author.

This novel seemed to drabble with more mature and relevant themes than its predecessor, and just seemed to be morally educational (I liked the bit about convenient lies) and receptive to humanity’s problems at hand. The world that the entire The Giver Quartet series seems to encompass was more explored and given light to. We learned about the existence of other communities, about a great disaster falling modern humans who despite the terrible times managed to survive although survival meant carrying on with the scars of the past, about a common thread of human life connecting all these communities, and about the role of Village.

The novel’s all about how Village and Forest are rotting away and decomposing thanks to the actions of the Trademaster (who also plays the villain in the next novel) and his annual festival the Trade Mart. At the end (spoiler alert), Matty has to sacrifice himself by giving himself away to Forest, and it was a very tragic scene for me. The protagonist died at the end! At least he got what he’d always wanted: his true name, given by Leader. This is the first time in the series with a major character, or really one of the four protagonists, dead. His death did develop the plot, and was a nice way to tie his character development from rude ragamuffin in Gathering Blue to a compassionate and loving young boy in Messenger. It clearly shows how impactful love is as a force in one’s life; it possesses the ability to change a person so much you’d think they’re someone else.

There’s some violence in the novel. Early in the beginning, Stocktender, one of the residents in Village, was killed by Forest via vine strangulation; it’s a deep schism within the themes of the series as the first was more sci-fi-ish, whilst this one clearly yells out ‘fantasy’, similar to the second one. If you’re getting too confused by these numbers, let me list out the books in order for you1.

The Giver Quartet series:

  1. The Giver
  2. Gathering Blue
  3. Messenger
  4. Son

Get the big idea? I hope you’re not confused anymore now. Four books may seem like a lot, but all the books are so short. Each one averages about 500 eBook pages, and can be read within like five hours? It’s not lengthy or difficult and they’re all easy and interesting reads. I see now why they’re targeted at children, though these novels clearly aren’t only restricted to children; adults must read them too—it teaches them about morals/messages they might’ve neglected in their youth.

I do feel quite bad for Jean now. Maybe she’ll never love again, but from personal experience of death I know people get over death very quickly. One week the entire family’s mourning, and in the other everyone’s back to their old jobs, old habits, and sticking with their routine. Matty’s death is likely just the same for everyone in Village. After a short period of mourning (they call it ‘keening’ in the novel; how interesting worldbuilding!) with all the residents of Village in participation, everyone goes right back into their old and trusted lives, waiting too for their own demise. Surely every death is like this. Mine will too.

I had a neighbor who passed; was a very old man with a metal walker. His two children, now adults, came from abroad to mourn the loss of their father with their recently-widowed mother. It only lasted a week. Soon after, both of them were gone, and the woman lives alone. By the look of her face (she rarely goes outside, so I haven’t seen her for a long time), I can tell she’s self-reliant.

It’s funny how realistic fiction can be sometimes. It just evoked a real memory of real people in this plane of reality we all exist in. It’s nice to exist with you, dear reader, and if you do have the time and want to spend some of your remaining time in worlds meticulously crafted for you to live in, then I do very much recommend this novel for you. Start with the first one, and slowly progress so you can feel as if you’re growing with the characters.

name & author: Messenger (Lois Lowry)
rating: ★★★★
line: A book of interesting gifts, the depth of human emotion, the complications that ensue when one trades away their ‘true self’ or rather their moral compass, and what it means to be human.
finished: on march 9th

  1. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giver_Quartet ↩