Messenger

Messenger by Lois Lory

The second book of The Giver Series 

Summary

It is lead by a man name Leader, the original founder of Village. It takes place about five to ten years after the ending of Gathering Blue. Matty is now an adolescent male living with Kira's father, a blind man named Seer. He has matured and has been appointed the role of Messenger within Village, carrying notes and memo's that are to be relayed from one person to another.

Leader's arrival to Village as a young man

As the story progresses, Village's welcoming and friendly atmosphere slowly begins to fade away as the darkness within the people of Village slowly reveal themselves. At an event known a Trade Mart, goods are usually traded for other goods by the Village people. Recently, however, the Trade Mart has become a place where secrets are traded and valued more than goods. The people of Village slowly begin to become affected by the darkness that Trade Mart has brought. 

People start becoming more selfish and a petition regarding the closure of Village to newcomers is brought up by Mentor. After a Village-wide meeting, the petition is granted and work to close of Village begins. Seer realizes that he only has a limited amount of time to get his daughter to move to Village before it closes its doors for good. He sends Matty to the weeklong journey to persuade Kira to come to Village. Leader gets word of Matty's journey and uses his gift to try and connect with Kira. When Leader uses his gift of seeing Beyond to see Kira's village, he points out that Forest is beginning to thicken and is becoming more hostile, even to Matty who it has never been affected by Forest's attacks. He sends off Matty wishing him well secretly knowing that Forest is preparing to destroy him and Kira on their way back. The novel concludes with the perils that the pair had to overcome to be able to get through Forest. 

Writing Style

Similar to The Giver and Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry once again incorporates a distinct use of language in the third novel of The Giver Quartet, Messenger. An example of this would be certain places, events or objects being called what they are, without the use of the word "the". For example, the village where Matty lives is referred to simply as Village, not The Village. The forest surrounding Village is known as, Forest and not The Forest. It is the same case with the "Gaming Machine", "Beyond" and "Trade Mart".In the third instalment of Lois Lowry's The Giver Quartet, the story is focused on Matty, the young male companion of Kira in the series' previous book, Gathering Blue. The story is set in Village, a place where people from all over the region are welcome and where their differences are celebrated. It is a sanctuary for all individuals seeking a new beginning. A place where they can forget about the trials and tribulations of their previous homes and establish a new life free from worry and fear. A place where no secrets are kept and people aren't afraid to be who they really are.

Another example of Lorwy’s distinct writing style would be the practice of giving true names. In Village, once an individual is deemed of age, they are given their “true name”, reflecting their personality or role within the community. Jean's father is known as Mentor because he is the teacher of community. Kira's father was given the name Seer because despite his physical blindness, he is able to see through people and interpret them for who they truly are. These names are given to the people of Village by Leader after years of being observed by his watchful eyes and their ability to see Beyond. 

The Giver Quartet, a four-part
 book series by Lois Lowry

Effectiveness

The novel's effectiveness is greatly tarnished by its many supernatural aspects. Throughout the entire Giver Series, the common issues of dystopian societies are touched upon. In each novel, there is also the presence of gifts or specific powers possessed by certain individuals. I found that Messenger contains the most supernatural aspects of all of the four novels in the series. The other three are terrific examples of dystopian literature that is both realistic and exciting to read. Messenger is quite an exciting book to read with all of the obstacles that duo faces within Forest but the realism is not present. I cannot picture  It may be just my opinion but I find that the focus on the gifts of Leader, Kira and Matty take away from the overall effectiveness of the novel.

Evaluating Bias

As a young man Leader was known as
Jonas, the protagonist of The Giver

I am able to make connections and deduce conclusions that other readers may not because of the fact that I have now read three of the four novels of The Giver Quartet. An example of this would be when Leader is introduced in the novel Messenger. The narrator describes him as a middle aged man with blue eyes who arrived to Village in a sled when he was just a young man. He came from a place where his people's feeling were suppressed by their leaders and he has the gift of seeing Beyond. This information is enough for me to be able to realize that Leader is the same character as Jonas, the protagonist in the first novel, The Giver. 

Rating

I give Lois Lowry's Messenger a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. The novel is a great read regardless of the rating, however, some aspects of the novel made it, in my opinion, less enjoyable than it could have been. The novel's increase in supernatural behaviour and vagueness of important topics are the major factors as to why I gave Messenger a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

One of the aspects that I am referring to is the more pronounced presence of the supernatural within the novel. The personification of Forest and it's destructive nature do not do the novel any favours in my opinion. The fact that Forest is able to control on demand the foliage and the climate within its ecosystem make the novel less serious and take away it's validity as a piece of dystopian literature and makes it seem more like a teen-fiction novel.

Another factor that led to my 3.5 rating of the novel is the vagueness that surrounds Trade Mart. The novel speaks about how Trade Mart used to be a jolly place of commerce where one person's goods are traded for another's. It also touched upon how it has changed over the years and became a place where "secrets are traded". When Matty participates in Trade Mart himself, he states that there are no longer any goods, rather Trademaster stands on stage with a booklet of paper and one by one people whisper what they want and what they are willing to trade it for. The novel doesn't really specify how or what people trade for their new possessions or in Mentor's case, physical enhancements. I find that the vagueness of such a prominent topic within the novel is a mistake on the author's behalf and it leaves some readers having to guess about what really occurs at Trade Mart and why it has such a great effect on Village.

I give Messenger a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Author's Influences

Lois Lowry, author of Messenger

Lois Lowry is known for her Newbery Award winning novel, The Giver. Though she has written a few novels, she mostly authors children's stories. This may be the reason as to why she included the aspect of gifts to certain characters within The Giver Quartet. Her roots in writing children stories may have led her to include a somewhat magical aspect to her novels. The supernatural powers of Leader, Kira and Matty would appeal to a younger audience. The significance of their gifts is especially prominent in Messenger because it is the force that saves the protagonists from imminent death and brings for the falling action of the story. These supernatural forces attract a broader, though younger audience, even though they may detract from the realism and seriousness of the story.

Connections

The novel touches upon the darkness inside of everybody. People act a certain way because they choose to. Deep inside every individual there are evil desires. These desires rarely seem to rear their ugly heads, however, they are present and may sometimes influence an individuals' actions. Lust, greed, envy and pride are just some examples of the natural evils within every human being.

Messenger points out that civilization is just a thin veil that can easily be removed once people's desires cloud their judgement. The once blissful and welcoming Village was easily diluted by the secrets and ill intentions shared at Trade Mart. Once the people's desires for materialistic goods, physical beauty and selfish views towards Village's resources began to outweigh their desire to help the Newcomers, Village's sense of community began to fall apart. Mentor's desire and lust for Stocktender's wife distracted him from his love of teaching. Ramon's gloating about his parent's newly acquired Gaming Machine led to his prolonged sickness. The people's decision to close off Village to Newcomers is rooted in the selfishness that they have within them. These evil desires were felt by Forest and they led to its "thickening" and the perilous journey of Matty and Kira through Forest.