19-End

Kira and Matty are now very worn from the Forest’s attacks. They are bleeding and tired, Kira can't even walk anymore. Matty asked her to use her gift to meet Leader halfway; she did do, and found that Leader was very close. By now, Leader knew that the Forest was ready to attack, because a swarm of stinging insects attacked him, and braches reached out and poked him, and one grabbed him. He and Kira used their gift and told Kira where he was. Since all of them were injured, in a hostile forest, he asked Matty to use his gift, in which he saved, not spending it on Frolic, Kiras leg, or even his friend Ramon. He stretched out, and his fingers vibrated, and a sharp pain shoots through him into the earth. Suddenly, everything was healing. The forest vines retracted from Leaders leg, Kira's cuts started to heal, Ramon fever broke, Mentors scare returned, along with his kind personality. The forest trails became clear again, the water, sweet and clean. Everything became healed. During this, he felt as if he was looking down at himself from above. Matty realized that the forest was an illusion, it was lies and dark struggles for power, portraying itself as the Forest. Matty then died, and Kira and Leader recognized him, as not only Matty, but Healer.

I thought the book Messenger was good. There is some parts of the book which I didn’t enjoy, because they didn’t do anything much, like in the beginning. Also, lots of my questions weren’t answered, such as what went on at Trade Mart. I wish Matty didn’t die at the end. Why couldn’t the book end on a happier note? Maybe it was used as a closing for The Giver and Gathering Blue. Luckily, Kira and Leader, and frolic are okay. I wonder why Leader said to Matty not to spend his gift, it's not like he only he has certain amount of the gift. The symbolism used in the book was interesting though, with the forest portraying greed and hate. Lois Lowery is very good at including symbolism in her writing. I would recommend Messenger to those who liked The Giver. Overall, the book was interesting, and made the reader think and analyze the material. The book Messenger is a fascinating book.

17-19

Matty is injured very badly now. The trails have been completely hidden by the foliage, and Matty was lost. The water in which he had usually drunk from has become polluted, and the smell became pungent. Reeds sliced at their feet, and branches reach out for them, tearing their clothing. The forest, during the course of the book, has become very agitated and violent. With their injuries, and the vines reaching for them, they slowly march on. Kira uses her gift to see beyond and sees Leader coming. I doubt leader won't make it there in time. I feel bad for the Seer, for if Matty dies, and Kira dies, he will be left all alone. I read that Leader said he smelt death when he entered the forest, only reinforcing my theory that Matty's journey is not going to end well.

16- 17( second to last post, i cant publish last one due to Internet problems tonight)

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The book is starting to get very suspenseful! Matty and Kira are about in the middle of their journey through the forest. The forest has been reaching with vines to Kira's feet, poking them, gashing her legs. I don't understand why Leader hasn’t warned them about the Forest, and how they knew it was shifting to attack. Leader could have used his power to see beyond and tell them, or something. To add to this, Matty's usual trails have become overrun with weeds, making the paths hard to follow. The vines started poking Matty to. This reminds me of when in the beginning; Matty said how a man was strangled to death by the vines. Then, Frolic refuses to walk, and a weird odor, one that Matty never encountered before. I predicate that things will get worst from here, because it's giving very onimonous warnings. I am worried about Frolic, because he now is refusing to walk, despite that he has no physic injuries. I suspect poison. How will Kira survive the journey, especially with her leg? She is already at a disadvantage with her disability. Why is the Forest doing this to Matty? It never had before? I don’t think it's because of Kira anymore, because the Forest is attacking him and Frolic too. I think the forest might be a metaphor of some sort, because a reoccurring theme in Lois Lowewrys books is everything is symbolic. I will have to analyze the book more to get a more detailed understanding.

12-16

Matty started his journey to go get the Seer daughter.  After a few days of traveling, Matty and frolic arrived in Kira's village. Before he entered, he learned that Kira was a skill weaver. He wondered how Kira changed from the last two years. When he meets Kira, he saw her crippled leg. He remembered his special power, the power to heal. He told her about his gift, and she refused his service. I wonder why she didn’t want to have healthy legs. Maybe she thought of the leg as part of her identity. Then, she showed Matty here gift, the gift to make things with her hands. She weaved a picture of Matty coming through the woods; it was as if she was psychic. Lois Lowery's theme of Seeing Beyond is becoming more prominent as the story continues. Anyways, because of this, they started the journey. Strangely, the paths didn’t feel as welcoming as they use to be. They felt hostile, and unwelcoming. Matt never had gotten this vibe from the forest. Maybe Kira irritates the forest because she is afraid of the forest. I think that the forest might attack them on their journey.

Chapters 6-12

The Village people have decided they want to close The Village to outsiders.  Former people, with kind sous are routng for the village to close. This seems very strange because most of the villagers themselves are originally outsiders, and been taken in by the village. I think the Trade Mart has something to do with this. Everyone who has traded has become selfish and greedy. This must be because they traded their inner selves. Well, because they are closing the village, they are asking Matty to deliver the message through the Forest to travelers coming to the village, and, to retrieve the Seer daughter, a crippled girl named Kira. When I was reading this, I had an epiphany. Kira is the orphan girl with the bad leg, who has a special skill with weaving, which is her Gift. She is the main character in Lois Lowery's book, called Catching Blue. The Messenger must be some sort of finally to all the books. Before Matty left, he wanted to see his friends Ramon, but when he got there, he and his sister were quaernetined This and the fact that his family wont tell Matty what they traded for the game machine, leads me to think that his parents traded his health.

Chapters 3-6

Matty, in chapter three, keeps nagging the Seer about getting a game machine at the Trade Mart. The Seer is utterly against the Trade Mart, and doesn’t want Matty to go. I wonder what goes on there. In the book, it describes that the people look fearful, and usually, don't have anything to trade with. In this case, what do they trade with? The Seer and the Mayor say people trade their deepest parts of themselves. In the chapter, it says that Mentor traded his kindness, because before the trade, he was kind and gentle, and now, because he traded the deepest part of himself to become attractive, he is cruel and ugly on the inside. How do they do that? If something is a part of you, you cannot take it away, or, can they? Also, what is the deepest part of you? They are very vague on the description.  Well, in the same chapter, Matty goes over to the Mentors daughter’s house to get his puppy, which was extremely ill. Matty was petting him, when he felt a painful energy surge through him. Suddenly, the puppy recovered from his illness. This and the case in the forest when Matty held a frog  with a crippled leg, and suddenly, after feeling that surge of energy, the frog's leg was healed, proves to me that Matt is some sort of healer. Lois Lowery, so far, in the books he has written, gives the main characters special abilities, that differentiate the character from society, like Matty with the Healing, Jonas with the "ability to see beyond" and the girl in Gathering Blue, who can expertly weave, despite her bad leg. In the next chapter, it mentions they mayor, when Matty asked him for a name for his new puppy. The mayor really reminds me of Jonas, and I think he actually is  Jonas because he says he arrived here on a red sled, he mentions a 8 year old boy named Gabe, who I think is Gabriel, and he mentions how in his old home, they was no pets, and the only meat they ate was fish, exactly like Jonas. The book Messenger looks like a sequel to The Giver.

Chapters 1-3

In Messenger, Matty, a boy who wishes to be Messenger, lives with an old blind man, called the "Seer". The Seer has the ablity to "see beyond". I wonder what this ability is, to see beyond, means. Does it allow him to see a persons soul? Or to see emotions, or the future?  Anyhow, Matty lives with the man, cleaning, cooking, and reading to the old man. Matty, who is impatient, is a perfect match with the Seer, a patient man. One one afternoon, he goes into the Forest. In the story, the forest is a dangerous place. It attacks anyone who enters the woods when it gives a Warning. It entangles people to death, or grabs them,until they are gone. Something is strange about the Forest. I think maybe the forest is a methopor. I could sybollize greed and selfishness. Strangly, the Forest dosen't mind Matty, even when they're warnings, the woods never attacked him. I think Matty is special. He has a certain gift, that makes the woods accept him. When Matty told the Seer that the woods need him, the Seer said, that maybe, the woods needed him. When he is in the woods, they vibrate, and seem alive. Overall, i think that Matty is more special then he is percieved.