What would you do if it was illegal to be alive? Maybe you’ve never really thought of that issue. Among the Hidden, written by Margaret Peterson Haddix, portrays this exact matter. This is represented by the protagonist Luke Garner — a 12-year-old child who is a “Shadow child.” Luke has to live among two brothers in a society where it is defined that having a third child is illegal. With this lifestyle, he is unable to socialize, or even cure his boredom at all. In Among the Hidden, Luke changes by becoming reckless and knowledgeable, which reveals the theme that its dangerous to let the government have too much power. The first way Luke changes is by being reckless. After going to Jen’s house once, Luke gets more and more careless about how careful he is. …show more content…
This text evidence shows how Luke doesn’t even plan to sneak out to Jen’s house, he just leaves without caution. Another example of his reckless behavior is when the author stated, “If I’m so brave, how come I'm not risking my life to see you?” (Haddix 112). This evidence shows how much of a risk Luke is taking just to go see Jen, except he doesn’t care because he goes anyway. Another way that Luke changes is by becoming more knowledgeable. The author states, “Luke felt a strange sense of relief, that it wasn’t truly wrong for him to exist, just illegal. For the first time since he’d read the Government books, he could see the two things being separate” (Haddix 137). This evidence shows how he understands the Government better after Jen’s dad fully helped him understand. In the book it also states, “Luke read the letter at supper, after everyone else in the family had had a stab at trying to figure out what it meant. Somehow, after reading all the big books that Jen had loaned him, he didn’t find the fancy words so daunting” (Haddix