Among the Hidden Literary Elements

Young adult fiction

An unknown country (possibly America) set in the near future.

The story is narrated by Luke, a young boy.

The tone and mood are full of suspicion and dread.

Luke, his family, and Jen are the primary protagonists. The main antagonist is the Government.

The primary conflict is between Luke and his family on one hand, and the Government (which forbids the existence of third children like Luke) on the other hand. Luke also runs into conflict with the rest of his family, who impose strict rules on him in order to avoid the notice of the Government.

The climax occurs when Luke meets Jen's father, who hides him from the Population Police and helps him obtain a fake ID.

“Then, more to herself than to him, Mother added, “And things could be worse.” Somehow, that wasn’t comforting. Luke didn’t know why, but he had a feeling what she really meant was that things were going to get worse. He snuggled tighter against Mother, hoping he was wrong” (pg. 19). Luke's feeling that things are going to get worse foreshadows the family's increasingly difficult circumstances.

“In three seconds she would hide all evidence that Luke existed, just in time to step to the door and offer a weary smile to the fertilizer salesman or the Government inspector or whomever else had come to interrupt their supper” (pg. 5). This quote greatly understates the emotional situation of Luke's family members. In fact, they are actually very anxious, and just seem to be calm.

“Here, he felt as baffled as Alice in Wonderland from one of the old books in the attic” (pg. 62). This quotation emphasizes Luke's sense of confusion by making an allusion to the fantasy classic Alice in Wonderland, in which a young girl falls into a parallel universe.

See the separate Imagery section of this Note.

Jen and Luke, like many Shadow Children, face the possibility of a lifetime of hiding. There is a possibility that they could obtain fake IDs and new identities that would allow them to live normal lives, but they would always need to hide who they truly were. This is a paradox: even if the Shadow Children obtain a sort of freedom, they will always need to hide.

Towards the end of the novel, Jen sneaks into Luke's house, which parallels all of the times that Luke snuck into Jen's house to visit her.

N/A.

“At twelve, he knew better, but sometimes still pictured the Government as a very big, mean, fat person, two or three times as tall as an ordinary man, who went around yelling at people, 'Not allowed!' and 'Stop that!' It was because of the way his parents and older brothers talked: 'Government won’t let us plant corn there again.' 'Government’s keeping the prices down.' 'Government’s not going to like this crop'“ (pg. 2).