65 pages • 2 hours read
Lois LowryMessenger
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Forest
Forest is the most prominent symbol in the novel. Forest is the woods that surround Village and contains paths that lead to other settlements. However, it is more of a sentient being than a location. Characters interact with Forest as though it is a character, or deity, that thinks and moves on its own. Forest warns people if they are not welcome in the woods, and if its warning is not heeded, Forest will entangle and kill those it does not want. Most townspeople fear Forest and don’t understand it, but Seer tells Matty that Forest is an illusion. Matty doesn’t understand this aspect of Forest until the end of the book when he realizes that Forest is a representation of the fear, deceit, and struggle for power that was taking hold in the hearts of the villagers. The more trades that the townspeople made, the “thicker” and more dangerous Forest became.
Mentor’s Physical Changes
While Village changes throughout the story, the most obvious change is in Mentor. His physical characteristics become symbols of the internal changes that are happening within him and Village as a whole. The changes in Village are very subtle at first, just like the changes in Mentor. Matty senses the changes before he can see anything specific. And even when he does see the change in Mentor’s birthmark, he questions whether it has faded or the light is different.
Mentor’s demanding, selfish behavior at Trade Mart cannot be reconciled with the man Matty once knew. This is the first time Matty notices that Mentor’s birthmark has disappeared completely and the first time Matty sees just how selfish and rude Mentor has become. Mentor’s birthmark, posture, and bald spots are symbols of his true nature, which is selfless, kind, and patient. As he trades away his physical imperfections, Mentor trades away his good internal qualities. Similarly, after Matty’s sacrifice for Village, Mentor’s birthmark, stooped posture, and bald spots return, accompanied by his patience, kindness, and love.
True Names
The concept of receiving one’s “true name” appears repeatedly in the novel. True names are assigned to villagers by Leader and are meant to reflect a person’s truest self and greatest gift. Seer, though blind, is called so because of his ability to see beyond what most ordinary people see. Mentor is a gifted and capable teacher with a desire to see his students succeed. When fishing with his friend Ramon, Matty sarcastically wonders if Ramon’s true name will be Gloater or Boaster because of his behavior.
While Matty hopes that his true name will be Messenger, Leader knows that carrying messages is not Matty’s greatest gift and does not reflect his deepest self. True names are given based on something deeper than a mere occupation. As Leader says, “There have been other messengers, and there will be more to come” (178). What set Matty apart is his desire and ability to heal others. Matty’s deepest self wants those he loves to be whole, which is why his true name is Healer.
The Gaming Machine
Ramon’s Gaming Machine, which is a slot machine that awards candy when one wins, represents many things in the story. First, it is seen as an object of desire. Matty is jealous of Ramon and his Gaming Machine and asks Seer if they could get one. This request demonstrates the appeal that new and unique objects have and the envy they can produce in those who do not have them. However, the request also shows how detrimental consumer culture is. Trade Mart enables people to get things they want and would not otherwise be able to have by trading away the deepest parts of themselves. When Matty realizes this, the Gaming Machine becomes a symbol of selfishness. Its appeal is lost when Matty realizes that Ramon’s family traded the health of their children to have this object, prioritizing things over people. Eventually, Matty sees that the Gaming Machine and Trade Mart, and everything connected to them, are in direct opposition to the values Village was founded on.
Kira’s Tapestry
Kira’s tapestry is a symbol of Forest and the changes going on within it. Kira made the tapestry for Seer, and it hangs on the wall in Matty and Seer’s home. It depicts the village where Kira lives and the village where Matty and Seer live separated by a vast expanse of Forest. The narrator says, “It was the geography of his own life, and that of the blind man, for they had both moved from that place to this other, with great difficulty” (29).
Before Matty leaves for his journey into Forest, Jean visits and notices that the tapestry has changed. The smooth, careful stitches Kira wove are now knotted in strange ways. During Matty’s journey, the tapestry continues to change, representing the danger within Forest. Seer can feel the tapestry with his hands and notice the changes. Instead of feeling smooth stitches, he feels knots and snarls in the thread and can sense death from the tapestry. This change in the tapestry coincides with the attacks Forest makes on Kira, Matty, and Leader. The tapestry is Seer’s connection to the three characters lost in the woods and keeps him informed. Eventually, when Matty sacrifices himself for the people he loves, the tapestry reflects this change as well, and Seer finds the tapestry “as even and smooth as they had been in the past” (175).
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By Lois Lowry
