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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mysterious Benedict Society, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Confidence and Growing Up
Deception vs. Truth
Loneliness vs. Friendship
Control vs. Freedom
Hope
Summary
Analysis
Eventually, all the children decide to join the team. Kate joins immediately, though Constance is skeptical about following instructions. Reynie pauses to weigh his fear with his desire to be a part of something. He realizes that Mr. Benedict is asking the children to do something important, and “a strange sense of duty, not to mention a powerful curiosity, compel[s] him to join.” Sticky is nervous, but Mr. Benedict tells him the team needs him to succeed. Reynie tells Sticky that he wouldn’t blame him for leaving, but that Reynie would feel much better if Sticky did join the team. This finally persuades Sticky to join.
Kate’s eager willingness to join the team highlights her impulsive but deeply moral nature. Constance cares more about having to follow orders than the reasoning behind the team, and Sticky is only convinced when Reynie makes clear that he wants Sticky there. Reynie is once again conscious of his own fear. He also recognizes his own loneliness, and he craves a salve for that loneliness. He feels a “duty” to Mr. Benedict’s hope; the hope that the children might succeed in their goal, even though Reynie has yet to learn what that goal is, combats his fear. The other factor that pushes Reynie to join is curiosity. This is a form of hope––a hope of learning the truth––that also speaks to Reynie’s love of learning and discovery.
Themes
The children are given toothbrushes and pajamas and shown to their bedrooms. Reynie and Sticky share a room, and Reynie watches Sticky read half a book in only a few minutes. He marvels at Sticky’s intelligence, and wonders what Sticky ran away from. He feels like he has been friends with Sticky and Kate for ages, and he resolves that even if nothing else comes of Mr. Benedict’s team, at least Reynie has made friends.
Reynie can appreciate his friends’ intelligence without feeling insecure about his own abilities. He also appreciates his friends as people. His concern for what Sticky ran away from also shows that Reynie cares about his friends. Reynie has never had an opportunity to be a friend before, but presented with the chance, he demonstrates earnest compassion and an easy ability to develop affection.
Themes
After Sticky is asleep, Reynie creeps downstairs to Mr. Benedict’s study. Mr. Benedict is still awake, and he asks if Reynie is looking to call Miss Perumal. He compliments Reynie for being “polite yet steadfast” when Number Two refused to let him call Miss Perumal during the tests, revealing this to have been another aspect of the testing. Miss Perumal called earlier; she has had to take her mother to the hospital, but she is “proud but not surprised” with Reynie’s achievements. Mr. Benedict somberly tells Reynie that he won’t be able to contact Miss Perumal while the mission is in action because it demands secrecy, but once the mission is over he will be able to see her again. Reynie nods, hiding the tears that come to his eyes at the thought of not seeing his tutor again.
Mr. Benedict’s description of Reynie as “polite yet steadfast” shows that he understands a core element of Reynie’s character: he is considerate of other people, but he perseveres for the sake of his goals. Miss Perumal also demonstrates her understanding of Reynie, and the fact that she is “not surprised” by his success proves that she still thinks more highly of his intelligence than Reynie himself. As Reynie moves into the world of Mr. Benedict and his associates, he has to temporarily leave Miss Perumal behind. This loss signifies a kind of growing up, as Reynie leaves his only parental figure. It also marks a new stage in Reynie’s quest to end his loneliness: to stay with his new friends, he must forsake the only person who has cared for him.
Themes
Mr. Benedict is stricken by Reynie’s sadness, and he falls asleep. Only a moment later, though, he wakes and requests Reynie stay a moment longer to discuss one of the questions on the test. The question showed a chessboard with only the black pawn out of its starting position and asked if the position is possible. Reynie is the first child to ever answer correctly. White pieces always move first, but Reynie tells Mr. Benedict that the white knight could have changed its mind and moved back to its starting point. Mr. Benedict asks if Reynie thinks that would be a good move, and Reynie says no. He asks why the white player might have done it, and Reynie answers that the player may have doubted himself. Mr. Benedict agrees and bids the boy good night.
Mr. Benedict once again shows his deep empathy, as he is so moved by Reynie’s sadness that he falls asleep. His question about the white knight also highlights the importance of confidence. The white player makes a poor decision due to self-doubt, which suggests that confidence and hope of success are vital to victory.
Themes
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The children rise early on a stormy day, and Milligan and Rhonda serve them breakfast. Constance is especially cranky since she’s hungry, and her face grows red enough to highlight her pale blue eyes. Rhonda compliments her eyes, and Constance is so upset by the compliment that she falls quiet. Milligan, who acts as the house’s guard, leaves for duty, and Rhonda tells the children never to leave the house without Milligan. Mr. Benedict and Number Two come in. Number Two sticks close to his side until he is seated, at which point she hurries to the food. Rhonda explains that Number Two never sleeps, so she requires a great deal of food to give her energy. Mr. Benedict laughs, remarking that he can’t stay awake and Number Two can’t stay asleep.
Constance again asserts her cantankerous nature. Her dislike of compliments suggests that she is too stubbornly bitter to know how to react to positivity. When Number Two enters with Mr. Benedict, she stays close to him until he is seated, which speaks to her protective role toward Mr. Benedict. Her overprotectiveness becomes slightly ironic when Rhonda reveals that Number Two has her own struggles with sleep.
Themes
Mr. Benedict tells the children about the house’s alarm bell and instructs them to gather on the landing if they ever hear it. All the talk about danger is making the children nervous, so Mr. Benedict offers to answer their questions. Before anyone else can speak, Constance demands to know why she is not allowed to have candy for breakfast. Mr. Benedict calmly explains that candy has low nutritional value. After this, the others ask about the project and the danger they face. Mr. Benedict explains that he has discovered that coded messages are being embedded in human brains. These messages have a powerfully negative effect, and they are the source of the Emergency. He remarks that he has been unsuccessful in learning who sends the messages and why, but Number Two and Rhonda defensively say that he has uncovered much about the Sender.
Instead of fueling Constance’s irritation by responding sharply, Mr. Benedict treats the little girl with respect and calm. This placates her, which shows that Mr. Benedict has a more developed version of Reynie’s emotional intelligence. It also shows that Constance is not a constantly raging monster who can never be tamed; she just needs to be spoken to correctly. Mr. Benedict reveals that the Emergency has been intentionally manufactured by an individual who tampers with people’s free will, which establishes freedom as a right that needs defending. During this explanation, Number Two and Rhonda defend Mr. Benedict against his own criticism, once again highlighting their tight bond and their desire to protect him, even from himself.
Themes
Mr. Benedict admits that he has learned some things about the Sender, including the fact that they use children to deliver the messages. The children want to know more, so he brings them to a room full of electronics, including a television, a radio, and a computer. He turns on the television, and Reynie experiences the unease he feels whenever he watches television. Constance yawns and announces that she doesn’t hear anything unusual. Mr. Benedict asks Number Two to engage the Receiver; she types something into the computer, and the sounds of the television are replaced by a child’s voice reciting cryptic messages, such as, “The missing aren’t missing, they’re only departed.” Mr. Benedict tells the children that this voice is being transmitted on every television, radio, and cell phone in the world, in every language, so it is subconsciously absorbed by millions of minds.
Just as children are important to Mr. Benedict’s plan, they are important to the Sender. The adults’ need for children indicates that children are uniquely capable for specific tasks, but the risks of these tasks force the children to mature too quickly. The fact that the Sender transmits his messages through electronics is also significant. It mirrors the manipulation of popular media as propaganda, which has been a growing concern as electronics made media more accessible in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Themes
Mr. Benedict explains that the Sender controls “the adhesive property of thoughts”––the way thoughts are attracted to signals and other thoughts. Children’s thoughts can be slipped into the mind without notice, and Constance comments that this makes sense, since grown-ups never think she is even capable of thought. She adds that she has never felt like she had thoughts that were not her own, and the other three children agree. Mr. Benedict tells them that this is because they have “an unusually powerful love of truth,” so their minds resist the hidden messages. Reynie recalls the test question asking if he liked television and radio.
Despite the capability and intelligence all four children have shown, they are underestimated by most adults around them. In addition to being able to go unnoticed, their “powerful love of truth” is a strength that allows them to see through the layers of deception that the Sender and the Emergency have generated.
Themes
Mr. Benedict continues that something terrible is approaching, but when Sticky asks what it is, he confesses he does not know. A frustrated Constance exclaims that they should call the government, but Mr. Benedict says that most governmental officials do not believe him, and the ones that did have gone missing. Reynie connects this to the television’s message that “the missing aren’t missing, they’re only departed,” which seems to have allowed the Sender to abduct people without anyone caring. Constance scoffs that the children themselves can’t really be in danger––but Reynie can tell Constance is becoming afraid. Mr. Benedict tells her that they are all in danger, and the alarm bell begins to clang.
The government officials are as susceptible to the Sender’s manufactured apathy as everyone else, which makes them unhelpful in the current crisis. The children are learning that figures of authority cannot always be trusted. This mirrors the lack of protection the four main children have to deal with: children are not protected by their parents, and citizens are not protected by their governments.
Themes
