Line #14 Literature/GatheringBlue


1	[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/12936_1656.jpg]]
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3	->''"We're the ones who fill in the blank spaces. Maybe we can make it different."''
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5	''Gathering Blue'', written by Creator/LoisLowry, is a story set within the universe of her earlier YA novel, ''Literature/{{The Giver}}''. It is part of the ''Literature/TheGiverQuartet'' and followed by ''Literature/{{Messenger}}''.
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7	The novel is set in an isolated and backwards village led by the Council of Guardians. Its inhabitants are mean and only come together at the annual Gathering, in which the village's Singer sings a song telling the history of human civilization. Protagonist Kira was born with a deformed leg and was kept alive despite her SocialDarwinist society due to the intervention of her influential mother. Upon her mother's death, her neighbors attempt to have her killed, but she is saved by the Guardians, who single her out for her exceptional embroidery skills. Kira is to become the next Threader -- the person who will embroider the Singer's robe with the past, present, and future. Things get more complicated when Kira realizes that the Guardian's motives might not be as pure as they appear, and Matt discovers a utopian village previously alluded to in ''The Giver''.
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9	Unlike ''The Giver'', which takes place in a futuristic society, ''Gathering Blue'' takes place in a more obviously AfterTheEnd technologically regressed society.
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11	----
12	!!This book provides examples of:
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14	* AbusiveParents: It's implied that abusive parents aren't the norm (most notably, Kira expresses skepticism at the idea that a father would commit suicide and leave his young daughter alone), but we never seem to see the ones who aren't (except at the very end, with [[spoiler:Kira's father]]). Very few parents are shown as positive. Neglect, beatings, and emotional abuse are all used against "tykes" and there is little sympathy for them. Kira's mother is the lone aversion, and [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest she's dead.]]
15	* AfterTheEnd: The Ruin, which is explained to be a series of wars, and natural disasters. The book implies that it is not a single event, but a recurring event throughout history.
16	* AllHailTheGreatGodMickey: A group of survivors worship a cross recovered from a Christian church. They don't know what Christianity actually was composed of before the apocalypse, but they do know that the cross had some importance.
17	* BodyHorror: The description of [[spoiler: the chains around the Singer's feet, and their disgusting effects on him]], are rather grotesque and intended to horrify.
18	* BookEnds: The book begins with Kira sitting with her mother's body, saying goodbye to her and looking at an uncertain future. It ends with her saying goodbye to her [[spoiler: father whom she thought was dead]] and looking forward to helping to [[spoiler: create a new future for her village]].
19	* TheChosenOne: Kira, as well as Thomas and [[spoiler:Jo]], were chosen for special roles in their society due to their talents.
20	* ContinuityNod: A boy looking like Jonas in another community is mentioned to Kira (''Messenger'' hints at this even more strongly, and ''Son'' [[spoiler: outright confirms that the two are one and the same]]).
21	* CrapSackWorld: Unlike in ''The Giver'', where the crap sack is more subtle, ''Gathering Blue'''s community is at a medieval tech level and inhumane to their fellow citizens.
22	* EternalRecurrence: The Gathering is the time when everyone is told how the world ends, rebuilds, ends, rebuilds, and ends over and over again, and will continue to do so in the future.
23	* ForeShadowing: Towards the end of the book, Matt tells Kira about a boy about her age with bright blue eyes (in the village her father now lives in) and suggests she could marry him. Between ''Messenger'' and ''Son'', [[spoiler:she does just that]]. Also, the boy [[spoiler:turns out to be Jonas]].
24	* FreeRangeChildren: Due to the AbusiveParents, many children go around doing whatever they want. Matt in particular [[spoiler:actually left his village and was gone for days to get something for Kira. Of course, [[TheRunaway he never went back home.]] ]]
25	* FutureImperfect: The Christian Cross is simply known as "The Worship Object." Information about it has been lost, but the citizens know that it was special to their ancestors, so they bow to it out of sheer respect.
26	* GildedCage: Kira notes that while she has better food, equipment, and living conditions at the Edifice, she's also far more restricted by the Council's expectations and isn't free at all.
27	* GoodScarsEvilScars: Vandara has a scar that goes down her face and uses it to boast how she fought off a beast. Subverted with Christopher, [[spoiler:Kira's father]], who still has scars from [[spoiler:the supposed "beast attack"]] years later.
28	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Kira, while in the Council of Edifice's building, is exposed to indoor plumbing for the first time. She finds it interesting, but thinks how it is simply just easier to go down to the river to do bathroom activities.
29	* KidHero: Kira is around fifteen when the story starts. Matt is even younger, around eight.
30	* MeaningfulRename: Citizens, when born, have only one syllable in their name, but as they grow older and more established, they gain additional syllables. (eg. Ann --> Anna --> Annabell --> Annabella). They actually refer to their ages in terms of syllables in their names.
31	* OffingTheOffspring: It is briefly mentioned that Vandara was accused of having killed one of her children by forcing him to eat oleander. Many in the village still believe that she did it, though she was let off because there was no evidence.
32	* ParentalAbandonment:
33	** Kira, whose mother dies in the opening and whose father was supposedly taken by "beasts" shortly before she was born (towards the end of the book [[spoiler:she reunites with the latter and we learn that he was actually brutally attacked--and left sightless--by a rival who wanted him dead. His life was saved only because of the timely arrival of a benevolent group of strangers from another village.]]). Also Thomas and Jo, who are similarly orphaned.
34	** We eventually learn that [[spoiler:the Council deliberately creates these situations, often by killing the parents, in order to gain control of children with extraordinary talents.]]
35	* PluckyGirl: Kira manages to keep going, despite her mother's death and the mistreatment she gets from the villagers.
36	* RagnarokProofing: Unless the elders knew far more than they let on, it would be impossible to have workable indoor plumbing complete with hot water without electricity and a source of pressurized water.
37	* ShownTheirWork: The characters lament that they can produce any color except blue. In real life, blue has historically been one of the hardest colors to synthesize.
38	* SlidingScaleOfGenderInequality: Level 3. Women can't learn how to read or write. Kira is even afraid to watch as Thomas writes the names of plants she is narrating to him for fear she will be accused of learning how to read.
39	* StealthSequel: Subtle, but a boy Kira's age with bright blue eyes is described by Matt in the utopian village, hinting that [[Literature/TheGiver Jonas finally reached Elsewhere]]. The two novels connect in ''Messenger''.
40	* TagalongKid: Matt for Kira. He follows her around a lot.
41	* TextileWorkIsFeminine: Extremely prevalent. Kira, who is tasked with embroidery, is female (while Thomas is tasked with woodcarving). She learned the art of embroidery from her mother and the art of dyeing from an old woman, Annabella. On a societal level, it's explicitly the women who weave cloth for everyone.
42	* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler:Jamison]] turns out to be one.

Context Literature / GatheringBlue