Messenger

by

Lois Lowry

Kira Character Analysis

Kira is Seer's daughter; she was the protagonist of Messenger’s prequel, Gathering Blue. She lives in a village a week's walk away from Village, has a "crooked leg" and so walks with a cane, and is a skilled textile artist. She insisted on staying in her hometown years ago, but agreed to one day join Seer in Village. Kira is bright, happy, and confident in what she can do, both in terms of her physical abilities and her artistic abilities. She shows Matty that her crooked leg is part of her identity and makes her who she is, and allowing him to "fix" her leg would mean a massive upheaval in her sense of self. Kira identifies herself instead with her weaving and embroidery. She has the gift of "seeing ahead," which means that when she embroiders and weaves, she can create pictures of the future. Because of this, she's expecting Matty when he arrives and is ready to follow him to Village when he asks her to come. Optimistic by nature, Kira doesn't pick up on the dangers posed by Forest until Matty finally points them out. To this end, she tries to good-naturedly ignore the warnings that Forest gives her until it's impossible to continue doing so. She saves herself and ultimately, Village and Forest by reaching out to Leader with her gift and telling Matty to use his gift to heal Forest.

Kira Quotes in Messenger

The Messenger quotes below are all either spoken by Kira or refer to Kira. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Selfishness vs. the Collective Good Theme Icon
).
Chapter One Quotes

But here in Village, marks and failings were not considered flaws at all. They were valued. The blind man had been given the true name Seer and was respected for the special vision that he had behind his ruined eyes.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira, Mentor, Seer
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eleven Quotes

"She's quite lovely, isn't she?"

Matty shrugged. He understood that Leader was referring to Kira but the blind man's daughter was older than he. She had been like a big sister to him. No one in the old place had thought her lovely. They had been contemptuous of her weakness.

"She has a crooked leg," Matty reminded Leader. "She leans on a stick to walk."

Related Characters: Matty (speaker), Leader (speaker), Kira, Seer
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:

Matty glanced over and saw that she was standing in front of the tapestry Kira had made for her father. Even from where he stood, he could see what Jean meant. The entire forest area, the hundreds of tiny stitches in shades of green, had darkened, and the threads had knotted and twisted in odd ways. The peaceful scene had changed into something no longer beautiful. It had an ominous feel to it, a feel of impenetrability.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira, Seer, Jean
Related Symbols: Forest
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Fourteen Quotes

To his amazement, Kira said no. Not no to leaving—he hadn't suggested that to her, not yet—but a definite, unarguable no to the idea of a straightened, whole leg.

"This is who I am, Matty," she said. "It is who I have always been."

Related Characters: Kira (speaker), Matty
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:

"You can use the time to become accustomed to being whole..."

"I am whole," she said defiantly.

"I meant to having two strong legs."

Related Characters: Matty (speaker), Kira (speaker)
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Fifteen Quotes

He could see, too, that she was accustomed to her stick and twisted leg. A lifetime of walking in that way had made it, as she had pointed out, part of her. It was who she was. To become a fast-striding Kira with two straight legs would have been to become a different person. This was not a journey Matty could undertake with a stranger.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Seventeen Quotes

When the sinister, curling stem—in appearance not unlike the pea vines that grew in early summer in their garden—reached his ankle, it began to curl tightly around his flesh. Quickly he reached down and severed it with the small blade. Within seconds it turned brown and fell away from him, lifeless.

But there seemed no victory to it. Only a pause in a battle he was bound to lose.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira
Related Symbols: Forest
Page Number: 166-67
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-One Quotes

He saw Forest and understood what Seer had meant. It was an illusion. It was a tangled knot of fears and deceits and dark struggles for power that had disguised itself and almost destroyed everything. Now it was unfolding, like a flower coming into bloom, radiant with possibility.

Related Characters: Matty, Leader, Kira, Mentor, Seer
Related Symbols: Forest
Page Number: 185
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Messenger LitChart as a printable PDF.
Messenger PDF

Kira Quotes in Messenger

The Messenger quotes below are all either spoken by Kira or refer to Kira. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Selfishness vs. the Collective Good Theme Icon
).
Chapter One Quotes

But here in Village, marks and failings were not considered flaws at all. They were valued. The blind man had been given the true name Seer and was respected for the special vision that he had behind his ruined eyes.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira, Mentor, Seer
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eleven Quotes

"She's quite lovely, isn't she?"

Matty shrugged. He understood that Leader was referring to Kira but the blind man's daughter was older than he. She had been like a big sister to him. No one in the old place had thought her lovely. They had been contemptuous of her weakness.

"She has a crooked leg," Matty reminded Leader. "She leans on a stick to walk."

Related Characters: Matty (speaker), Leader (speaker), Kira, Seer
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:

Matty glanced over and saw that she was standing in front of the tapestry Kira had made for her father. Even from where he stood, he could see what Jean meant. The entire forest area, the hundreds of tiny stitches in shades of green, had darkened, and the threads had knotted and twisted in odd ways. The peaceful scene had changed into something no longer beautiful. It had an ominous feel to it, a feel of impenetrability.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira, Seer, Jean
Related Symbols: Forest
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Fourteen Quotes

To his amazement, Kira said no. Not no to leaving—he hadn't suggested that to her, not yet—but a definite, unarguable no to the idea of a straightened, whole leg.

"This is who I am, Matty," she said. "It is who I have always been."

Related Characters: Kira (speaker), Matty
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:

"You can use the time to become accustomed to being whole..."

"I am whole," she said defiantly.

"I meant to having two strong legs."

Related Characters: Matty (speaker), Kira (speaker)
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Fifteen Quotes

He could see, too, that she was accustomed to her stick and twisted leg. A lifetime of walking in that way had made it, as she had pointed out, part of her. It was who she was. To become a fast-striding Kira with two straight legs would have been to become a different person. This was not a journey Matty could undertake with a stranger.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Seventeen Quotes

When the sinister, curling stem—in appearance not unlike the pea vines that grew in early summer in their garden—reached his ankle, it began to curl tightly around his flesh. Quickly he reached down and severed it with the small blade. Within seconds it turned brown and fell away from him, lifeless.

But there seemed no victory to it. Only a pause in a battle he was bound to lose.

Related Characters: Matty, Kira
Related Symbols: Forest
Page Number: 166-67
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-One Quotes

He saw Forest and understood what Seer had meant. It was an illusion. It was a tangled knot of fears and deceits and dark struggles for power that had disguised itself and almost destroyed everything. Now it was unfolding, like a flower coming into bloom, radiant with possibility.

Related Characters: Matty, Leader, Kira, Mentor, Seer
Related Symbols: Forest
Page Number: 185
Explanation and Analysis: