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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Among the Hidden, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Propaganda, Fear, and Control
Privilege, Wealth, and Perspective
Protest and Resistance
Coming of Age, Independence, and Family
Summary
Analysis
Kids like Luke—third children, or any children beyond the allotted two per family—are illegal. Luke has no idea if he’s the only one, since he knows they “d[o] things” to women to prevent them from getting pregnant or make them “get rid of” any babies after their second. Mother had explained this to Luke when Luke was six. Before that, Luke just assumed little kids had to stay out of sight. He figured that when he got to be as old as Matthew and Mark, he’d get to go to town or even just to the back field or the front yard. But somehow, Luke never got to be as old as his brothers.
Haddix based the world in Among the Hidden on China’s one-child policy, which allowed the government to forcibly sterilize women or mandate abortions for pregnancies after a woman’s first; that’s presumably what Luke is referring to when he talks about “d[oing] things” to women and “get[ting] rid of” babies. This highlights again how controlling Luke’s government is. However, Mother has also gone out of her way to protect Luke from this reality—and she’s been successful, since Luke thinks it’s normal for little kids to hide.
Themes
On his sixth birthday, as he blew out the candles on his cake, Luke remembered Mark’s sixth birthday. Mark had wanted to have a party with his friends, but Mother had shushed him. The memory caused Luke to mess up when he tried to blow out his candles, so his brothers teased him for being a baby. Luke told himself he was remembering wrong: he must be remembering Mark’s seventh birthday, because Mark would’ve been in hiding and wouldn’t have had friends on his sixth birthday. But this didn’t seem right, so four days later, Luke asked Mother if Matthew and Mark ever had to hide.
Mother is trying to protect Luke’s innocence, but to do so, she also has to curtail her older sons’ activities (such as by refusing to throw a birthday party for Mark so Luke won’t feel different from his brothers). This may contribute to Mark’s resentment toward Luke in the present. The fact that Matthew and Mark tease Luke for being a baby suggests that Luke needing to stay in hiding somehow contributes to his feeling perpetually young—it’s keeping him from growing up like his brothers do.
Themes
At first, Mother had told Luke he didn’t really need to know. But thinking of how he was the only kid who still sat in Mother’s lap or listened to bedtime stories—which Mark and Matthew deemed “sissified”—he insisted on learning the truth. Mother had explained that she and Dad had wanted Luke, so she wouldn’t let Dad consider “getting rid of” Luke. Somehow, Luke knew she wasn’t talking about leaving him in a box on the side of the road like people used to do with kittens, back when people had pets.
Again, the novel confirms that needing to stay hidden essentially keeps Luke acting like a much younger kid, since Matthew and Mark imply that they think six is too old for bedtime stories. Mother is trying to explain things in an age-appropriate way, but Luke still senses that there’s a dark undertone to what she’s saying—he realizes on some level that had Mother “gott[en] rid of” him, he just wouldn’t be here at all.
Themes
Mother explained that the “Population Law” hadn’t been around long, and she figured that the Government would abolish it. But they didn’t. Then, the Government started saying on TV that they could find out anything about anyone and would do anything to enforce their population laws. Dad was hearing rumors in town about other babies. Mother said that she always wanted a fourth baby, a John, but she’s happy now with her three sons. After this conversation, Luke stopped minding having to stay hidden. Now, he believes he’s special. At home all day, he gets Mother’s attention and can play in the barn and the backyard—at least until the woods are cut down.
Finally, Mother clues readers into why she’s so worried about protecting Luke: she’s afraid the Government will take him from her (and harm him) if they find out he exists. Luke seems to grasp that his life depends on listening to her, and it helps him cope to think that he’s special. But again, note that hiding means that Luke essentially acts like a much younger child: he’s home all day with Mother, rather than making his own friends and living his own life. His life is very circumscribed, even if it's the safest way for him to live.
Themes
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