Messenger
Lois Lowry (2004)
“A boy with the power to heal must decide what he is willing to lose when the community that once welcomed everyone begins to close its doors.”
Characters in Messenger
by Lois Lowry · 2004 · 6 characters analyzed
Cast: Matty, Seer (the blind man), Kira, Leader (Jonas from The Giver), The Forest, Mentor.
Character Analysis
A former feral child redeemed by Village's generosity, Matty embodies the community's founding principle: that no one is beyond healing. His gift of healing operates on a conservation principle — every cure costs the healer something. His final sacrifice, giving all his life force to heal the Forest and Village, completes his arc from receiver of grace to giver of it. He earns his true name, Messenger, only in death.
Direct, earnest, occasionally rough-edged. His speech has improved from the feral child he was but retains a plainness that signals his outsider origins.