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Chapter 6
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
Kate eagerly accepts the role of secret agent, but the other children hound Mr. Benedict with questions as he explains the logistics of the plan. The children will leave for the Institute the following day. He tells them that they must behave exactly as the Institute wants them to, since only top students are allowed to send the hidden messages. He also instructs the children to watch out for any curiosity or oddity at the Institute. Kate hopefully asks if Mr. Benedict expects the children to sneak around and break into offices, but he tells her to take no unnecessary risks. This leaves Kate disappointed and the other children relieved.
Once again, the children are not allowed to live with the same kind of ethical simplicity that characterizes the lives of most children. The tests required them to prove their strong moral codes and love of truth, but Mr. Benedict’s plan needs them to temporarily obey an evil plan for the sake of deception.
Themes
Mr. Benedict and the children will convey information between them through Morse code, which Sticky offers to teach everyone. The Institute is on Nomansan Island, and Mr. Benedict and his associates will watch the school all day for any signals. As he finishes his explanation, Mr. Benedict emphasizes that the children must take care of each other and work as a team. He stresses that each of the children is vital to the plan’s success. Constance responds to this advice by teasing Sticky about being named “George Washington.”
The name “Nomansan Island” recalls the term “no man’s land,” which commonly refers to abandoned land and the areas between trenches in warfare. This name emphasizes its isolation and potential danger. When the children are on the island, there will be no adults present to protect them, so they must protect each other. This teamwork will not come easily, though, as Constance makes clear with her teasing of Sticky.
Themes
In the yard, Sticky teaches the others how to use Morse code to send a message, and Constance applies this knowledge to ask Sticky, in Morse, why he ran away. Sticky reveals that when his parents found out about his perfect memory and exceptional intelligence, they began entering him in quiz competitions. The more prizes he won, the more they pressured him to study. The pressure made him nervous, which made him miss questions, which caused his parents to grow angry and accuse him of not caring about their family. To make a point, Sticky pretended to run away by hiding in a boarded-up cabinet. His parents looked for him, but once benefactors started gifting them large funds to help, they stopped looking as hard. One day Sticky heard his father say something about being “better off,” and Sticky ran away for good.
Sticky finally reveals the last pieces of his backstory, which he has tried so hard to conceal. He is not an orphan like the others––he is alone because his family has failed him. Instead of protecting him and allowing him to enjoy childhood, Sticky’s parents prioritize control over love.
Themes
After the story, Constance uses Morse code to apologize to Sticky, which surprises everyone. Kate remarks that they are a depressing group, and Constance asks why Milligan is so sad. They look to the bodyguard, who is standing watch in the yard, and Constance asks him why he is sad. Milligan tells them that he woke several years ago tied to a chair with all his memories gone. He managed to fight off his captor and break out of his bindings, and he swam through a body of water to escape the people who pursued him. He still does not remember who he is, and he calls himself “Milligan” because it was the first thing he thought of when he first woke up. He tells this story softly, without excitement or drama.
Constance’s apology indicates that she is not as two-dimensional as the others perceive her to be. She is a disagreeable child, but she is not truly cruel. Milligan’s story also adds dimensions to his character, explaining that his sadness is not merely a character quirk, but a result of deep trauma and loss. His retelling of this story without fanfare demonstrates that he is resigned to his fate.
Themes
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The children push Milligan for more information. They correctly guess that he woke up on Nomansan Island, and that his captors were the men they encountered in the maze. Milligan adds that Mr. Benedict believes Milligan was once a secret agent. He came to Mr. Benedict for help, and though Mr. Benedict has not been able to restore Milligan’s memory, he has earned Milligan’s loyalty by helping him make sense of what happened. Milligan’s penchant for disguises comes from a fear that an enemy will recognize him, and that he will not recognize them as an enemy. Kate asks if his memory might return, but Milligan says that he has lost hope. Reynie asks what keeps Milligan going without hope, fearing that the world might seem hopeless to him one day, too. Milligan replies that only duty keeps him going.
Milligan explains the purpose of his disguises, highlighting once again that deception is sometimes necessary. His lack of hope has sapped him of the desire to pursue restoring his memory. In other words, his lack of hope has led to a lack of meaningful action. Reynie understands this, and he sees Milligan as a cautionary tale of what he might become if he loses hope.
Themes
