Hello readers, of the iCurion. I have read the Giver quartet written by a great writer Lois Lowry. In my previous article I reviewed the book, The giver, which was the first book of this quartet. If you have not read it, please read it first. This is the second book of the series, Gathering blue.
At first this book may not seem related to the previous book at first look. The book starts with the main character of the book Kira and the death of her mother. Kira is a handicap and the mother is a very kind and nice person but was dead because of an illness. Kira’s mother is a weaver and she helps the weavers in the place and takes care of their toddlers (tykes as they called it in that village). The village Kira lived in was having a council of guardians as the leadership. In the village, the people had a Darwinian fight for survival. Handicaps or people of any physical or mental illness are sent to the field where beasts will take him. However, since Kira’s grandfather was the village leader when she was born, the grandfather was okay and let Kira live.
Since her mother had died, there was no one Kira could ask help for and the women in the village wanted to build a house for the tykes and animals that disturbed the work of the women, so they burnt Kira’s cott. She was supported by her friend Matt. Matt lived in a place called fen. The fen is a kind of slum in the village. People there are face more poverty and uncertainty than the rest of the village. They also have a different accent.
Kira is confronted by Vandara the fiercest supporter of sending Kira to the field. So she is sent to have a trial with the council of Guardians, to whom she has to prove that she is indeed useful for the village despite her leg. She gets Jamison one of the members of the council of guardians for her defense. She puts forward the argument that she is a talented weaver even though her lame leg hinders. Since she proved her worth and talent, she will remain under the protection of the Guardians, and her only task will be to mend, maintain and improve the robe of the Singer who sings annually the history of her people, after taking rest of the training from Annabella an old weaver who also taught Katrina, Kira’s mother.
In the council edifice she also meets Thomas another artist, a carver who is supposed to carve the staff of the singer. His parents were also dead in a storm and was left in care of the council of guardians. She is also very grateful of her situation as she got good food, place to stay, the work she loves and has friends Thomas, Matt and his dog Branch.
But later she finds out that there is another girl, Jo, but she is just a child. She learns this by hearing screams and cries everyday. Kira later learns that Jo is from the fen and sings very well according to Matt and she too is an orphan. She is often scolded by Jamison, made to memorize new songs and is locked up in a room. This makes Kira see Jamison in a new light.
Later when the song is sung the three artists are introduced to the village by Jamison. Then later that day Kira meets Matt who had disappeared few days ago. He arrives with a blind man. The man, it turns out, is the father who Kira thought was dead: Christopher. He now lives in a community made up of injured and disabled people who help one another. It seems that the “Beasts” in the field was actually the members of this community. He has enemies on the Council and is forced to go to continue to embroider the Singer’s robe and help improve the society she lives in. Finally in the book that did not seem to be a sequel of giver mentioned Jonas as a boy with green eyes. Christopher also informs Kira of the treachery of Jamison with whom Christopher went hunting and was presumed injured by the beasts. And had blinded Christopher in order to get a position in the council of guardians.
Now I shall describe what I think of the story. This story mirrors the conditions of working class and poor people. But I believe that this village is worser than the community in the previous story. The people are forced into a Darwinian fight for survival. This also means that handicap people are oppressed. I believe that such Darwinian system is terrible and inhuman. Also, when someone is eliminated from society because of their special abilities It is extremely unfair as no one gets to choose their own abilities or birth. If it is a way where the person can use their own will to choose such thing that may be fair to punish. Not only that if someone gets punished because of their disadvantage in one field another field is not being compensated. As I have already repeated in my previous article, all children should not have such uncertain conditions of life. Each person should have equal starting conditions and if they are disadvantaged, they should be helped in that field. That does not mean that children should be spoon fed they should be challenged and at the same time nurtured. We must create an aristocracy. Not an aristocracy of power, based on rank or wealth, but an aristocracy of the weak, learnt and of the noble not of birth but of quality and character. So these kind of books should not only be read and skimmed but analyzed properly
A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE !
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