Messenger
By: Landon Leuschner
Themes
Theme 1
The messenger has multiple themes but the main theme was the trade fair when it was very tense. When everybody was saying what they wanted and what to give away.
Theme 2
When Matty was talking to Leader about getting his "nickname". It was like they were the best of friends. When they talked about fish they seemed to be a friendly theme going on.
5 Chracters
Matty "healer"
Matty is the main character in the book. He has this power to heal. He is also the messenger to people outside the village. He is the only one that knows the way around the forest. When tough times come he uses his powers to protect.
seer
He is a blind man who took matty in when he first came into village. He was a big part of matty's life. He does not believe in the trade fair, so he never goes. He loves matty and matty loves him. He also likes to garden. He can understand stuff easier than others.
Leader
Leader is the "mayor" of the town. He was voted in by the others. He came into village on a red sled. He takes a vote to make every decision in village. He is well respected and he can see the entire village.
Kira
Kira is seer's daughter. She has the power to see into the future. To use her power she must be knitting with a cloth. She looked over matty before he came into village.
mentor
Mentor is the "teacher" of village. He taught matty when he was a young boy. He was one of the people who wanted to put a wall around forest. He was also one who gave away his personalty at the trade fair. He has a scar on his face that he has had ever since he was a boy.
Most Inserting Part
The Trade Fair
The Trade Fair was the most interesting part to me. It was because I couldn't understand why people would give away their stuff like that. They really wanted the things that they traded for, but I would not wan't to give away my personality or anything like that.
Setting
The book takes place in a village. A village surrounded by a magical forest, that will attack you if you don't pay attention to "signals" that it gives you. It is a very nice village (in the begging). There are houses around a central "courthouse".
Conflict
The conflict in the story is, how much the people change. The village completely goes bad when people change. Change is good, usually but not in a small village like this. Some people change and then everyone changes for the worse.
Solution
Matty helped the people heal. They healed as they got their character back. The people who had voted to close village to outsiders, were saved as Matty gave himself up to help.
Tone & mood
Tone & mood 1
Tone was shown a lot in the book. But on pages 69-70 the tone was sadness. When Matty picked up Frolick. He talked to jean about her dad and she was sad. Matty wanted to help her but he didn't know how. At the time.
Tone & mood 2
On page 157 there was a tone of pain. Kira and matty both had injuries and they were in bad shape. They tried to get up but couldn't due to their pain. They woke at dawn to find kira very week and matty's nose was bleeding.
5 Events That stood Out To Me
Matty healed the frog
Matty used his power for the first time, in the book when he healed the frog. He had been going through the forest with a message when he stumbled across a injured frog. It had been attacked and he felt bad for it. He didn't know what to do so he tried to hide the frog to protect it. He grasped it with both hands and then he lost energy. He had absolutely no idea what happened, but the frog looked better than ever. He had healed it with his power.
The Trade Mart
The trade mart was the main turning point in the book. People were trading for stuff they wanted. Such as a gaming machine or love. It was held in a little building. The people would wait to hear their name. After they heard it they would go onto the stage. while on stage they would talk to the man about what they would trade. But they did not trade any old toy or something. They would trade their own personalities for stuff.
Matty Gets Frolick
Matty was given a dog from Jean. The dog was later named Frolic. This scene stood out to me because Jean was so devastated from her dad, mentor changing. Matty showed up to pick up Frolic and met Jean crying. They talked and Matty found out what was wrong. She said him that mentor had given up his personalty at the trade mart. He gave that up to persue a woman. He had seen his wife die so he was lonely.
The Wall
There was a town hall meeting to talk about building a wall around village. It was voted in. So they put up a wall to stop people from entering village. One of the reasons was because there were to many people to feed and not enough food. Matty was asked to go and get Kira. He had 4 days to do it or else the wall would close. The wall served a huge purpose because without it Matty would not have been in the predicament he was in. The wall was also put up because the people were changing. The trade mart made them different. The people put up the wall and Matty paid the price because of it.
Forest
When Matty was taking Kira back they faced problems. The forest was changing. Paths were gone. Animals Gone. There was a thick smog that you could not breathe in. Kira was on a cane so that slowed them down. Kira used her powers to find leader and get help. Matty used his to power to revive forest. They went on an epic trek and Matty paid the price to do whats right.
Character I Relate To
Leader
I relate to Leader because, I like to help people. I work well with people. I also Listen. Leader means a big part in the book and he helps. When Kira tried to reach him he sent help. He was always nice to Matty and I can relate. When he talked to Matty about the food he was really nice. He listens to everyone.
A different Setting
New York
The book would be very different in New York. If it was in New York village would probably not make it. The people would not be isolated enough. Others would attack or try to enter. The main problem would be protection. If it was in New York Outsiders would go to town on them.