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Chapter 26
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
Slowly, Luke turns around. Guns have been illegal for a long time now, but Luke has seen pictures of big guns meant for hunting deer or wolves. This one is small—it’s meant to kill people. Luke looks to the big man holding the gun and sees the man is Jen’s dad. He then says he’s a friend of Jen’s and just wants to know where she is. At this, Jen’s dad relaxes, lowers the gun, and walks around to turn off the computer.
Guns make a person powerful anyway because of the damage they can cause, but in Luke’s society, having a gun also likely means that a person is wealthy or well-connected. Both seem to be the case with Jen’s dad; recall Jen said he works for the Government.
Themes
Realizing Jen’s dad is willing to talk, Luke shares that he’s a third child and a neighbor. He tells Jen’s dad how he learned Jen existed, and he admits that Jen showed him how to disable the alarm. Jen’s dad says that “given the circumstances,” he set the system to notify him of any alerts, which is why he’s here now. Luke doesn’t ask what the “circumstances” are. Then, Jen’s dad asks what Luke and Jen did during their visits. Luke explains that they chatted, and Jen talked about the rally. When Jen’s dad asked why Luke didn’t try to stop Jen from going to the rally, Luke says that’s like “trying to stop the sun.” Jen’s dad smiles, but only a bit.
It's a clue that there’s more going on than Luke realizes when Jen’s dad mentions the “circumstances”; the novel will return to this mystery soon. Jen’s dad also makes it clear that he had no idea that Jen was planning the rally—she planned it all on her own. Luke makes the case that Jen was far too stubborn for anyone to be able to stop her; he was seldom, if ever, able to convince her she was wrong about anything.
Themes
His voice breaking, Jen’s dad says that Jen is dead. Luke accuses the man of lying. This is just a nightmare. But Jen’s dad continues. He says that he got her body back because he’s in the Government, but they couldn’t bury her with the family, and he hasn’t gotten any time off to grieve. Hoping the car crashed, Luke asks how she died. Jen’s dad says “they” shot all 40 kids who showed up for the rally and then cleaned up the blood immediately. Nobody knows the rally happened. Luke argues that according to Jen, thousands of kids would be there. Jen’s dad wryly says that Jen had too much faith in other shadow children.
Finally, Luke learns the truth about what happened to Jen, and about the “circumstances” Jen’s dad mentioned: Jen, and the other protesters, were all murdered. The implication is that the Population Police killed the children, showing that Jen was wrong to trust that the Population Police would let a bunch of shadow children live. Jen’s dad also suggests that Jen was more committed to the cause than most other shadow children, if there were only about 40 protesters.
Themes
Luke cries that Jen’s death is his fault, since he refused to go. But Jen’s dad says this isn’t true: Luke couldn’t have stopped Jen, and he’s sure “they” would’ve still killed all the protesters, even if there’d been thousands. Sobbing now, Jen’s dad asks why Jen did this—did she think the rally would work? Luke says Jen truly believed in the rally, but privately, he’s not sure that’s true. He wonders if perhaps she knew she’d die—she was willing to sacrifice herself and cut her wrist on the screen the first day she and Luke met, after all. She believed in helping others.
Jen’s dad paints the Population Police as totally heartless: it’s nothing for them, he insists, to murder thousands of children to support the Government. As Jen’s dad question Jen’s thought process, Luke starts to think more critically about Jen. He understands that her main goal was to help others, and she may have seen herself and the rally as small parts of a much larger protest movement.
Themes
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Still crying, Jen’s dad asks if Jen wanted to die. Luke says she didn’t want to die, and she didn’t want to hide—she wanted to live. Saying these words makes Luke feel close to Jen, and it makes it seem like she’s still alive. With a sigh, Jen’s dad says he has bad news: by logging into the chat room, Luke set off alarms at the Population Police headquarters. He’s managed to cover up that he’s Jen’s dad, but they will know the message came from his computer. Luke might be in danger now. Luke asks if he’s in more danger than usual, and Jen’s dad says he is—the Population Police will be looking for him now. Jen’s dad offers to get Luke a fake ID. He can do this, he says, because he works for the Population Police.
As Luke says that Jen wanted to live rather than hide or die, he essentially realizes that hiding isn’t truly living. So in this sense, he comes to finally agree with Jen: he can’t spend his whole life in hiding. Things get more complicated, though, as Jen’s dad explains the trouble Luke is in and that he works for the Population Police. However, it’s interesting that he offers to get Luke a fake ID despite working for the organization designed to murder kids like Luke—he’s protesting an inhumane system in his own way.
Themes
