Son

The characters in the novel all experience loss in one form or another, whether it is through tangible loss—such as Einar losing his feet to Trademaster’s cruelty—or, more frequently, an intangible loss, such as Claire’s loss of memories. Even though Claire is content during her time in the village in Book 2, she still suffers from the loss of her own personal history, as this represents an integral part of her identity: “she was mourning the knowledge of the years that the sea had gulped away” (142). Claire’s amnesia represents the most harrowing loss a person might experience: the loss of self. Although Claire finds a welcoming community in the village, she cannot be happy because she has lost a part of herself. She loses her memories, and with them gone, she loses any concept of who she is as a person. Throughout Book 2, Claire struggles to define herself by attempting to remember her past so she can plan for her future trajectory.

However, Claire’s loss extends far past the loss of her own memories and identity. She finds that she has also lost knowledge, which exists both as separate from and integral to her memories and self-conception: “It was more than the loss of memories. She had no knowledge. She wondered what a queen might be” (152-53).

Here, the author identifies that people do not necessarily need to possess something in order to suffer its loss; rather, people can experience loss simply from not having something that other people seem to have. In this way, deviance from normality can be seen as a loss. In Claire’s case, her lack of knowledge concerning what a queen might be is construed as a loss of sorts, primarily because she was never given this information in the first place. Claire feels as though she has lost out on understanding the world around her simply because her previous community did not teach her this knowledge. In this way, loss does not require possession; rather, it’s the absence of possession in the face of its ubiquity that presents the most troubling result.

Similarly, Gabe also suffers from this kind of loss through the loss of his family. Technically, of course, Gabe has never had a family; however, he feels this loss acutely when he looks at the happy families of fellow villagers. In this way, Gabe feels the loss of something that he has never possessed, much in the same way that Claire experiences loss. This similarity in terms of a lack of possession then indicates the shared experience of mother and son, paving the way for their happy reunion at the end of the novel.

Of course, the most desperate loss that both Claire and Gabe suffer is the loss of each other. Even before Claire knows Gabe’s name, she feels this loss, as though Gabe himself is equated with loss within the novel. At her original community, Claire feels this loss as soon as Gabe is born: “The Product was what they carved out of her. And she missed it. She was suffused with a desperate feeling of loss” (11). Although the book’s title implies that the novel is about Gabe, in reality, the book contends with Claire’s loss of Gabe, as evidenced in this quotation. From the beginning of the novel, Claire suffers from the loss of her son and then spends the rest of the novel attempting to rectify this loss. Gabe’s loss is the mechanism by which the author drives the narrative forward. However, the author also presents this loss as double-sided, as demonstrated by the alteration in perspective that happens in Book 3. Through this change in perspective, the author is able to demonstrate how a singular loss can have generational repercussions, as the trauma of loss reverberates throughout whole communities. However, the author also identifies ways in which to counteract this loss, suggesting that Claire has the ability to “perhaps somehow […] learn her own lost life” (153). In this way, the author constructs knowledge as a palliative for loss, suggesting that knowledge and loss exist on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of human experience. Knowledge counteracts loss and provides the possibility for individuals to heal from the wounds of history.

Throughout the novel, external and internal forces vie for control of character’s minds and bodies. In Claire’s original community, the Council of Elders seeks to control every aspect of community members’ lives, presumably in order to create a more efficient and peaceful community. The community leaders mostly seek to control the language used to construct social understanding in hopes that this will enable them to control the actions of community members. However, sometimes the community leaders exert control over the very bodies of community members, as evidenced by the clear restrictions regarding diet and appearance:

Claire remembered a time some years ago when the weekly report showed that her mother’s weight had risen slightly. Her mother had been a little embarrassed, and perhaps annoyed, when the next meal deliveries included special weight-loss meals designated for her. She had eaten them, of course—it was required, and there were no alternatives—until the report showed that her size was under control once again (102).

The very bodies of the community members are no longer theirs, but rather exist as an extension of the community itself. Like all other aspects of the community, people’s bodies—and here, specifically their weights—are carefully regimented so as to give the appearance of equality. This process of externalized control then bifurcates the physical body of community members from their concepts of self-identity: their bodies are not theirs, but rather the physical manifestations of community protocol and regulation.

As such, their bodies are limited in whatever way the community leaders see fit, especially by eliminating the sense of sight during childbirth, as evidenced by the mask that the doctors force Claire to wear. Claire is subjected to this method of externalized control during her time in the community; however, she also learns that there are things the community leaders cannot possibly control. Throughout Book 1, Claire slowly gains control over her thoughts; this culminates in her rebellion against the community itself by leaving on the boat.

In Book 2, Claire works to control the physical manifestation of her body so that she can be reunited with her son. As she climbs the cliff, she realizes that Einar taught her how to control herself, possibly the most valuable lesson he gave her: “She could not control the tree, or its blackened, split trunk. She could not control the strength of the gnarled roots that held it to the cliff. But he had taught her how to control her body […] And with [it] she could control the rope” (246).

Although Claire cannot control external events or conditions, she does realize that she can control her own body, therefore developing an agency that she previously lacked. Throughout the book, Claire becomes self-actualized, as she learns to manage her own actions and control her body in order to reach her singular goal. Although Claire still must combat unforeseen challenges, she is now in control of her own body and therefore can clearly make her own choices and decisions. She is no longer plagued by self-doubt or worried about what other people think of her; rather, she becomes entirely engulfed in her quest to be reunited with her son.

Claire’s plan is temporarily thwarted by another external force of control via the character of the Trademaster. The Trademaster exists as the embodiment of control over the trajectories of other people’s lives. When Jonas explains to Gabe why he exiled the Trademaster from the village, he says, “‘Trademaster was taking control of this village. And he was pure evil. It became clear when Matty died. That was the end of Trade Mart’” (340).The Trademaster’s evil nature stems from his desire to exert control over the trajectory of other people’s lives, namely by forcing them to live out the tragic consequences of their own desires. The Trademaster is evil because he attempts to subject other people to his cruelty, and Jonas argues that he must be eliminated because people need to have control over their own lives. In this way, the author demonstrates the dichotomy of good and evil in terms of control: internal control—that is, controlling one’s own life, body, etc.—is good, as evidenced by Claire’s successful control of her own body in Book 2. However, external control—the attempt to exert control over someone else’s body or life—is inherently evil, as represented by the character of the Trademaster in Book 3.