Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue

By

Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue was written

by Lois Lowry.

You enter into this village of unknown name or even time. It is left to the reader to form a place in your mind as you read it. There is no trace of any type of description of a where at or time. The only reference to a time period could possibly be the lack of modern connivances but even that is unsure. During my reading of this book I thought it was around the early 1800's.

This book has limited characters. The main character is a young lame girl named Kira. She is a loving but lonely person. She is generally mistrusting because of her handicap. Her mother is there only briefly and is killed off early in the book. However, there are mentions of her throughout. Her father Christopher is only a memory mentioned as he was killed before the birth of Kira. Her friend Matt is a ruff, dirty, little boy who talks different and yet is a very loyal friend to Kira though out all the problems that come up. Matt's dog Branches bring a little humor to the story and you seem to grow a fond feeling for him. The woman named Vandara would probably be one of the meanest characters in the book. She was scarred by beast on her face and this would lead her to insecurity and bitterness. She would attack Kira on a personal level that could very well cost Kira her life. She was a large woman with long black raven hair and so muscular that she almost appeared man like. Jamison is a strange type of a person. Is a tall thin man with long hair pulled back in a tie behind his head. He is almost a graceful type of man with a purpose that is not well known. He has an edge of kindness but is to be feared. She is torn and is wanting to trust this man as he defended her in a situation that was life threatening. Thomas is a little boy that was in the same situation as Kira and another little tyke named Jo. These children were a value to the village and received favors. There were quite a few of little known other characters that had some impact on the story line but not of any real value.

This story revolves around a village where only the strong survive situation. A girl named Kira was born with a lame leg. Most imperfect people were not allowed to remain. They were taken to a place called The Field where wild beast killed then ate them according to the villiagers. There was no tolerance for anyone who could not work or carry their weight in this village. Each and everyone had a job of some sort and purpose. They worked long hours and received little. To them this was just the way life was. There was a rule that if a conflict is brought about anyone causing death then the accuser of the conflict must die. They had this little mini court where the conflict was brought to them. They made the decision on what should be done. Young people like Kira could ask for what was called a defender that would indeed try to defend the young people against the elders that would bring charges against them. The woman known as Vandara got into a conflict with Kira after she returned from the Field of Leaving. That is the place where when Kira's mother died and she had to sit continually for four days, until the spirit of her mother's body was completely released. When she returned to the village she knew she might have to fight for the space that was her home. Her mother was gone and she was young she was also lame and by all villagers rights should have been sent to the field at birth. She went to the place where she had lived all her life and what remained was ashes and very few belongings. The people had burned the hut down with everything in it. Her mother died of an illness and this was common for them to do this. However, the woman Vandara was fighting for Kira's home space. Based on the facts that she was lame. She should have never been permitted to live. However, her mother's father was the head elder and somehow this child was spared. Now that the mother was dead the woman said she should be sent to the field for the beast to have. Kira refused to let her bully her even though she was young and very scared. Many of the older women started picking up rocks to stone Kira and Vandara was the leader of this situation. When Kira reminded the group of women about the law concerning the conflict. Each one slowly dropped their rocks and moved away. However, Vandara said she will take her to Council of Guardians. This is where the decision if Vandara got to take over Kira's space or if Kira could rebuild her cot and live as before. When it came time to appear before the counsel Kira felt more out of place than ever. She was standing before a group of men called the counsel and the meanest woman she had ever known. Her small tiny frame and a bundle of nerves hung on tightly to the large wooden piece of tree root she used for a cane. The head counsel addressed Vandara first and had her make statements of why she was there and what the conflict was. Vandara stated that the mother of Kira died and she therefore lost her rights to her home space. She said she didn't belong there in the first place and she should have been taken to the field at birth. Now that her mother was gone and the home space had been burned she needed that space to make a pen to keep the small tykes from the woods and beast. The elder listened with concern. Then they turned to Kira and asked if she would like to be defended. She thought about this and thought to herself no one knows about me but me. She looked at the elders face and somehow knew this was too important for her to try and stumble through. This was her living or dying. She decided to take the defender. Her defenders name was Jamison. He had a kind face. She still was leery because he too was one of the many adults she was facing. She was trying to avoid being killed and only wanted what she felt was hers. Her home space. Her space to carry on life as she knew it gathering scraps and helping the women in the room where they weaved. She enjoyed this type of work she learned as her mother was blessed with a sewing talent and was selected to be the only one who was allowed to repair the Singer's robe. This was