Thursday, March 4, 2010

Gossamer

Gossamer by Lois Lowry is a sweet story, and contrary to the child-oriented writing style, the book is appropriate for any generation. Further, I think that every age group can take something different out of the story. The book describes how “fragments” of our lives are collected through our treasured belongings by tiny nameless creatures and then “bestowed” through our ears. The most intriguing aspect of the book to me was what these creatures actually were, a question commonly pondered by the main character, “Littlest One”. The end of the book addressed the question, but ultimately put the answer up to the reader’s interpretation. Littlest One is told, upon yet again asking “what are we?”, that she is imaginary and that she lives “within…Within the stories. Within the night. Within the dreams,” (150). I also found the time frame of the book and how it affected Littlest One quite interesting as well. The exact period of the book is unknown, but it seems like it takes place over a mere week or two. As Littlest One gains knowledge and the ability to bestow, she does not grow, but instead turns more and more opaque, as she was born translucent. After she is done with her bestowal training, she is fully opaque and granted a new name—Gossamer. I think Littlest One/Gossamer’s transformation is applicable to growing up in out society. Gossamer was a pleasant read, yet triggered thoughts and questions of how the bestowers’ world paralleled to our own.

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