60 pages • 2 hours read
Neal ShustermanThunderhead
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Scythe Robes
Scythes are easily identified by their colorful robes. The robes may come in any color except for black because black robes have too strong of a connection to the image of the grim reaper and the visual representation of death. Scythes do not want to be seen as mere harbingers of death without human compassion but as honorable servants to the world in the fight for population control. Scythe robes represent the promise to carry this burden with honor, but in Thunderhead Shusterman explores the ways in which this symbol can be twisted to represent rebellion, greed, and bloodlust.
When Citra becomes a scythe, she feels “awkward and strange” (43) having to wear the long robe, and she often trips over it. However, as time goes on, she starts to feel exposed and vulnerable without her robe. The robe becomes a representation of Citra’s gradual evolution into Scythe Anastasia, and as Scythe Curie tells her, “[they] are scythes every moment of [their] lives,” and by wearing the robes every day, they never forget the role they play in society, “no matter how much [they] might want to” (42). Regular scythe robes represent nobility, enlightenment, and solemnity. However, the black robe Rowan wears as Scythe Lucifer represents murder, rebellion, and perceived evil. There is a dichotomy between Rowan’s robe and the “bringer of light” name he has been given: Light and darkness work together within his new identity. Scythe Faraday is disgusted and horrified to see his former student wearing the forbidden color, and he asks if “there [is] no taboo [Rowan] will not break?” (127).
Shusterman weaves irony into the robes of the new order scythes. Scythe Goddard believes that gleaning should be a joyful act, unhindered by restraint or quotas. Goddard and the scythes who align with his beliefs wear gems on their robes, and when Citra arrives at Winter Conclave, she is alarmed to see many scythes have “altered their robes to include embedded jewels—which, thanks to Goddard, their martyr, had become a symbol of the new order” (326). While scythe robes are meant to function like religious garb that fosters a spirit of humility and self-denial, the presence of gems on the new order robes indicates an abandonment of these ideals. New order scythes do not believe in the vision of the founding scythes, but they advocate for the celebration of desires like pride, vengeance, greed, and, above all, complete control over their lives. Their robes represent a visual departure of the old ways, and the glamor and allure of the new order ideals.
Endura and Nod
While Scythe takes place almost exclusively in MidMerica, Thunderhead brings the story of the scythedom to distant shores. Endura, the “floating metropolis in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean” (131), represents the headquarters of the scythedom and, consequently, the scythedom itself. Nod, however, is an unknown location that may or may not be a real place. While Endura represents the scythedom’s past and future, Nod represents the future of mankind and the “failsafe” that could save humanity from its own destruction.
Endura is the home of the World Scythe Council, who lord over the worldwide scythedoms. It is also the home of the founding scythes’ robes and all of the gems needed for scythe rings for the foreseeable future. Scythe Curie claims Endura represents every scythe’s connection to their history, and it provides context for “who [they] are and why [they] do what [they] do” (162). Even the shape of the island is meant to imitate the symbol of the scythedom, and from above, it looks like an “unblinking eye between long, curved blades” (398). Endura is impressively engineered, but it still has its malfunctions and imperfections. Endura is a blind spot for the Thunderhead, so it has no control or jurisdiction there and no power to stop tragedy from occurring. When Goddard manages to sink the island, he destroys not only the Grandslayers but also the very symbol of the scythedom and its power on Earth. By getting rid of the Grandslayers, Goddard gets his revenge and clears the way for him to take the position of High Blade of MidMerica, where he can rule without accountability and without anyone in MidMerica knowing about the decision that was reached on Endura. The truth sinks with Endura, and so does law and order.
Endura is the epitome of the pride of the scythedom. When Endura goes down, the scythedom has symbolically fallen. Nod, however, represents the hope of humanity and mankind’s last chance of survival, or the life “after” the fall of the scythedom. The founding scythes knew that corruption would eventually enter the scythedom, and there had to be safety measures put in place to combat this corruption. As Faraday and Munira begin their research into the mythical Land of Nod, they pull from a popular nursery rhyme, which “did not exist in the Age of Mortality” (311). Faraday believes that the rhyme was created and planted by the founding scythes, and although there is no proof that Nod exists, he is certain “even the simplest, most innocent of children’s tales have unexpected beginnings” (132), and there is more lurking in this rhyme than meets the eye. Upon further investigation, Faraday and Munira uncover a blind spot on the map that matches the description of the Land of Nod, and they know that they must journey here to figure out the secret of the founding scythes.
The Status of “Unsavory”
In a world where nanites can be adjusted to regulate emotions, crime and poverty have been eradicated, and no one wants for anything, unsavories are considered outliers. The Thunderhead explains that despite its best attempts to appease every human on Earth, some humans simply feel a pressing “need to be bad” (99). In fact, according to the Thunderhead’s calculations, roughly “3 percent of the population [can] only find meaning in life through defiance” (99). To be marked unsavory is to be an outcast by choice, and in Greyson’s case, unsavoryism represents an extreme breach of the rules of conduct and a separation from the Thunderhead’s friendship.
The Thunderhead decides that defiance is “a normal expression of human passion and yearning,” so it creates the label of “unsavory” and “the social stigma that goes with it” (99). Unsavories have all the same rights as regular members of society, but they are not allowed to have a direct connection to the Thunderhead’s consciousness. After all, the Thunderhead believes that this is exactly what unsavories want: “They take pleasure in the illusion of being on the outside, deeply content in their discontent” (99). The Thunderhead might not agree with the unsavory lifestyle, but it still wants to serve mankind, so he allows unsavories to embrace their defiance within closely-defined parameters. For example, Greyson notes that unsavories “[steal] things, but never [get] away with it” and “[threaten] people, but never [follow] through” (101). Unsavories, according to Greyson, are all attitude and talk with little action. For most unsavories, the status of unsavoryism is less about breaking the rules and more about having the freedom to be unhappy and rebel without consequences. Although unsavories “hate” the Thunderhead, they know it gives them exactly what they want, and their anger comes across as performative throughout the novel.
Greyson, however, did not choose a life of unsavoryism at the beginning of the novel. He did what he thought the Thunderhead wanted and was punished with the “unsavory” label for his efforts. Still, the nurse in the revival center assures him that he’ll “clean the slate in no time” (91), meaning that unsavoryism doesn’t have to be a permanent status unless he wants it to be. Even so, Greyson struggles to adapt to life as an unsavory, and it feels “like a piece of gristle in his mouth” (101). Greyson is angry and confused, and he cannot understand why the Thunderhead would punish him with this status. However, everything comes to a head in the final chapter of the novel when the entire world is marked unsavory except for Greyson. The dramatic decision to mark the entire world as “unsavory” alludes to the Old Testament concept of the Fall of Man: All have “sinned” against the godlike presence of the Thunderhead, therefore no one is allowed an intimate relationship with the Thunderhead. Unsavoryism comes for all except Greyson, and the stage is set for the dramatic conclusion in the third and final novel in the series.
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By Neal Shusterman
