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Self Interest Vs. Compassion In Lois Lowry's Messenger

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Self Interest vs. Compassion In the novel, Messenger, by Lois Lowry, the author uses the main character’s reactions to many different challenges throughout the text to develop a theme of self interest versus compassion through two main events. The main character is Matty, a young boy who came to Village as young boy. He had two main challenges throughout the book, keeping a huge secret of him having a gift and him having to help Kira travel through Forest to village. One of the challenges Matty faces throughout the text is keeping his secret. His secret of having a gift of being able to heal. He had to keep this secret from his Village and savor its power until he felt the right time to use it. It is limited and after he uses …show more content…

He had to face many dangerous thing that hurt him instead of Kira. While passing through they had many things grow in front of them, like vines. To help Kira, Matty had to cut the vines to help them pass through. These vines had a strong acid in them, and it dripped all over Matty’s arms, burning him really badly. This was to help Kira and protect her. “An acid sap dripped from the cut vines and burned where it landed on his arms… Be careful not to let it drip on you.” (page 140) Furthermore, this shows that the author used this challenge to show that Matty was trying his best to protect Kira and help her not get hurt. Matty was more worried about Kira and her health and safety than his. Throughout the whole text, the author shows many selfless acts from Matty and other in Village. These acts of selflessness support the theme. In the story, Matty has various challenges, but only a few are examples of the theme. Throughout the text, Matty reacts to his challenges in positive ways, showing that he is very selfless. In the end, Lois Lowry proves him as a selfless character compare to his Village and other people in the

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