DystopYA Update: Messenger

As a young adult I read Lowis Lowry's The Giver and fell in love with the story and dystopian fiction. However, it was not until I joined this challenge that I discovered that The Giver is actually part of a trilogy that continues the story into two other books. Unlike other series, "The Giver Trilogy" consists of three separate books that tell three very different stories. They only commonality is that characters from one novel appear in the other two. However, you do not need to read all three in order to understand the dystopian society that is being protrayed or to understand the characters and their development.

 For the challenge, I decided to read the third book in the series titled The Messenger. In this story, a young boy is living in a place called Village which is led by the main character from The Giver (do not worry, I won't spoil either of these books!). The town appears to be a utopian society, much like a commune, in which each person is given a job that fits their personality and life goals while also benefiting the entire community. Matty, the main character, came to Village when he was a young boy and was taken in by a man named Seer who teaches Matty how to act and tames his unruly ways. Though when Matty first arrived Village was welcoming, it is now becoming hostile and many villagers have decided to close Village to any newcomers. Before this decree can be issued, Matty must traverse Forest, find Seer's daughter and bring her back to Village. Throughout the book, the reader is given hints to why the villagers have changed and how dangerous Village and Forest are becoming due to this change.

There is also an element of science fiction in which the characters have magical traits. For example, Matty is able to heal the sick, Leader is able to see events that are occurring far away, and Kira can see into the future. Fortunately, unlike other science fiction books, these magical traits do not make the tale unrealistic. Instead, they are presented as common traits that are merely fine tuned or embellished a bit. In other words, they add to the story without taking anything away from the powerful plot and moral.

This is far more than a young adult book. While the characters are intriguing, Village and Forest are perhaps the most important "characters" in the novel. Their development is what truly makes this a dystopian novel. In many ways, it reminded me of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in which the forest becomes an active character that responds to the evil that is occurring in the world. The structure of this trilogy reminded me a great deal of William Faulkner's Snopes family trilogy, in which the books can be read separately but also share characters. Many reviewers have stated that this book is the darkest in the triogy and I found that assessment to be valid. However, I found the solemn tone of the novel to be one of its greatest features. In many dystopian novels, the main characters are able to escape the dystopian society or help to change the society back to a more friendly environment. Yet, I have always wondered about those societys that do not or can not be changed. This book deals with this issue and does so in a wonderful and touchy way.

-DLP