Those children are taken away from their families and put to live in the Edifice where they are trained to become better in their field. The children who have artistic abilities are treated differently from the ones who are ordinary. What the novel thus proved is that if the governing class influences society and the community they govern over immensely and that if they are not careful, they can do more damage than good. What resulted from this was a society that did not know how to show any type of compassion and treated its members as animals. Family relations were also affected as a result and family became defined as parents and children and other distant relatives were completely ignored. The society described is extremely dysfunctional and affection and love are almost inexistent. The Elders seem to have complete power over the population of the village and it is hinted that they don’t hesitate to kill if it is in their best interest. They dictate what is acceptable and what is not, what is right or wrong and who deserves to die and who deserves to live. The figures of authority in the novel are the Elders who live in the Edifice. SocietyĪnother major theme focuses on how society works and how it tries to control the artistic process to make it work in their favor. Thomas’s work and Kira’s work are seen as being equally important, something that would not have happened if the two were normal villagers. The only field where girls and boys are equal is when it comes to arts and creative crafts. They are expected to risk their lives constantly and to do it without showing any fear and without hesitating to do it. In this sense, the village is very sexist and misogynistic but men do not have an easy life either. They also have less freedom to do what they want since they are expected to do certain things to be considered useful. The village assigns roles considered appropriate to men and women and the women are constantly reminded that they have no rights in comparison with men.

Women are also not allowed to learn how to read and write because they are not considered intelligent enough. The society is run entirely by men who live in the Edifice and no woman is allowed to occupy a position that gives her any power. While men can occupy more positions than women, the females have no other choice but to work in the fields, weave and have children. It becomes clear from the first chapter of the novel that the society in which Kira lives has a set hierarchy regarding the roles women and men can have.

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Gathering blue book