Previous
Book 3, Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Son, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Pain and Maternal Love
Travel, Fitting In, and Values
Emotion, Individuality, and the Human Experience
Family and Coming of Age
Community and Sacrifice
Summary
Analysis
It’s evening, and Jonas and his wife Kira are discussing that Gabe is building a boat. Kira is exhausted after chasing their toddlers, Matthew and Annabelle, around all day. Jonas just sighs that they knew this would happen—only children like Matthew and Annabelle, who were born here, “won’t feel that pull” to other places.
Jonas suggests it’s natural for people to wonder about where they come from, and to seek answers about their origins if they don’t have all the information from the start. Kira is the protagonist of Gathering Blue, the second book in the Giver Quartet.
Themes
Now, Jonas stands and looks out the window. He can “see beyond” and, as Leader years ago, he often used his gift to help the village solve problems. As the problems disappeared, Jonas gave up leadership to focus on his family. He’s now the scholar and librarian, and so Gabe came to look for books that would help him learn to build a boat. Jonas and Kira discuss that Jonas brought Gabe here as a toddler, and now, Jonas worries about him. Where they came from, nobody knew what love was—and Jonas says he believes Gabe has a gift. Kira has a gift, too.
It’s better and healthier, Jonas suggests, that he and Gabe live in this village now, where people can love and know their families. This village also prioritizes knowledge, as evidenced by Jonas being a librarian and scholar—people can come to him for help understanding things in a way nobody could in their old community. Still, being here and having access to book knowledge doesn’t make Gabe less intent on leaving to discover where he came from.
Themes
Jonas continues, saying that Gabe won’t find the family he seeks, as Gabe—and everyone else in their community—was a “manufactured product.” Kira’s mother died, but she at least loved her daughter. Haltingly, Jonas says he can feel that someone is looking for Gabe and is maybe watching him. And he doesn’t tell Kira, but he can also feel something else out there that’s familiar, dangerous, and not really connected to Gabe.
It’s heartbreaking for Jonas to realize that Gabe wants something that, as far as he knows, doesn’t exist: families as Gabe understands them aren’t a thing in their original settlement. Readers also know that Gabe’s mother is out there looking for him, and that he won’t find her in the original community. Additionally, it’s implied that Jonas can feel Claire watching Gabe—and that the nefarious presence he feels might be Trademaster.
Themes
