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Terms
In the world of the novel, barons are wealthy, upper-class people. Many of them are in government, and they enjoy more privileges than the rest of society (such as access to junk food, and forged documents and passes for third children).
Baron Quotes in Among the Hidden
The Among the Hidden quotes below are all either spoken by Baron or refer to Baron. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 15
Quotes
She ran to a phone, Luke following breathlessly. She dialed. Luke watched in amazement. He’d never talked on a phone. His parents had told him the Government could trace calls, could tell if a voice on a phone was from a person who was allowed to exist or not.
“Dad—” She made a face. “I know, I know. Call the security company and get them to cancel the alarm, okay?” Pause. “And might I remind you that the penalty for harboring a shadow child is five million dollars or execution, depending on the mood of the judge?”
She rolled her eyes at Luke while she listened to what seemed to be a long answer.
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“But you’re a third child, too,” Luke protested. “A shadow child. Right?”
He suddenly felt like it might be easy to cry, if he let himself. All his life, he’d been told he couldn’t do everything Matthew and Mark did because he was the third child. But if Jen could go about freely, it didn’t make sense. Had his parents lied?
“Don’t you have to hide?” he asked.
“Sure,” Jen said. “Mostly. But my parents are very good at bribery. And so am I.”
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Chapter 16
Quotes
“Don’t tell me your family believes that Government propaganda stuff,” she said. “They’ve spent so much money trying to convince people they can monitor all the TVs and computers, you know they couldn’t have afforded to actually do it. I’ve been using our computer since I was three—and watching TV, too—and they’ve never caught me.”
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“Haven’t you learned? Government leaders are the worst ones for breaking laws. How do you think we got this house? How do you think I got Internet access? How do you think we live?”
“I don’t know,” Luke said, fully honest. “I don’t think I know much of anything.”
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Chapter 21
Quotes
“When I was little, Mom used to take me to a play group that was all third children,” Jen said. She giggled. “The thing was, it was all Government officials’ kids. I think some of the parents didn’t even like kids—they just thought it was a status symbol to break the Population Law and get away with it.”
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Chapter 29
Quotes
Maybe he could succeed where Jen had failed precisely because he wasn’t a Baron—because he didn’t have her sense that the world owed him everything. He could be more patient, more cautious, more practical.
But he’d never be able to do anything staying in hiding.
[…]
I want a fake I.D. Please.
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Get the entire Among the Hidden LitChart as a printable PDF.
Baron Term Timeline in Among the Hidden
The timeline below shows where the term Baron appears in Among the Hidden. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
...he studies his potential new neighbors. All the people who look at the houses are Barons, who are extremely rich and powerful. They look different from Luke’s family members: the men...
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Chapter 16
...apologizes and says Luke is just the first person she’s ever met who wasn’t a Baron. Luke is suddenly very aware of his old flannel shirt and patched jeans. Jen says...
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Chapter 17
...doesn’t get meat often. She explains that the Government is trying to make everyone, even Barons, eat vegetarian diets since vegetables are more efficient. Luke notes that his family used to...
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Chapter 23
...slam behind him. Jen is so superior and thinks that just because she’s a privileged Baron she’s special. She’s “just some dumb old girl,” and Luke wishes he’d never met her....
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Chapter 24
...but Luke stops her. He says he still can’t go. His parents are farmers, not Baron lawyers, and only Barons can change history. People like him, he says, just let things...
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Chapter 25
...Desperately, he suggests Mother go introduce herself to the new neighbors—but Mother scoffs that they’re Barons and have been in their house for months now. By the end of the week,...
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Chapter 28
Luke quips that Barons got more than anyone else, which makes Jen’s dad laugh. Jen’s dad says he’s not...
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Luke points out that Barons still have to follow the Population Law, and he asks if there are actually too...
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Chapter 29
...on the moon. He realizes that maybe he was wrong to tell Jen that only Barons can make change. Maybe he can make change because he’s not an entitled Baron. Knowing...
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Chapter 30
...where he ended up after running away from home. The real Lee Grant was a Baron who died last night in a skiing accident; his parents donated his name and identity...
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