65 pages • 2 hours read
Lois LowryMessenger
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 16-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
After their first day in Forest, Kira’s feet are bleeding. Forest has been reaching into her sandals and poking her with sharp sticks. Matty recognizes this as Warning and knows that Forest is telling Kira that she is not welcome, but he does not tell her.
Matty has difficulty finding the path, which has never happened before. In the day and a half he spent at Kira’s house, the path has overgrown with bushes. There are also hanging vines that drip acidic sap when cut, which burns Matty’s arms until they swell and blister. The rotting smell that Matty noticed at the beginning of his journey has grown stronger. From Village, Leader uses his gift and sees that Forest is attacking Matty and Kira and that the worst is yet to come.
Chapter 17 Summary
By the end of the second day, Matty tells Kira the truth, that Forest is aggressive and dangerous, and he shows her how badly the acidic sap burned his skin. His arms are swollen and oozing, but there is very little they can do. They decide to continue knowing it will get worse.
They begin to see more signs of rot and death. Streams Matty has used as drinking water for years are now stagnant and filthy. A swamp appears in the middle of the path, causing Matty and Kira to walk through slowly and carefully, holding overhanging vines and branches to stay afloat. After traveling through the swamp, Matty’s arms are completely immobile and the wounds on Kira’s feet have reopened. They both have difficulty breathing because of the horrible smell.
When they stop to rest, Matty watches a thin vine move toward him and wrap his ankle. He knows that is how an entanglement starts, and he cuts it loose. Kira uses her gift and can see that Leader has entered Forest to help them. Matty thinks about Kira’s gift of seeing ahead and of Leader’s gift to see beyond, and he doubts the usefulness of his gift.
Chapter 18 Summary
In Village, Leader tells Seer what is happening in Forest—that Matty and Kira are in terrible danger. Seer is distraught, calling Matty, as well as Kira, his child. Leader prepares to enter Forest to save them and warns Seer not to let anyone know he left. He is afraid that Mentor and his supporters will begin building the wall earlier than they’re allowed if they know he is gone. After Leader leaves, Seer returns home feeling hopeless. He touches the tapestry Kira made him long ago and can feel the knots and snarls in the fabric. He feels death and can smell the rot.
Chapter 19 Summary
When Kira and Matty wake up, they are both too sick to move. Matty’s nose is bleeding, and he must remain lying down to stop it. Kira’s vision is blurry, and Forest attacked her legs and feet during the night. Her muscles are exposed, and she cannot walk at all. Matty urges Kira to use her gift to see where Leader is.
Meanwhile, Leader has not stopped to rest or eat since entering Forest. He realizes that Forest is warning him to turn back by poking and prodding him, but he continues. He follows a little green frog and finds the path but is attacked by stinging insects and sharp rocks. Vines reach out and begin to entangle him, and he uses his gift to contact Kira and Matty.
Chapters 16-19 Analysis
In this section, Forest turns against Matty and Kira. Forest serves as a real and dangerous representation of Village and the attitudes of the people in it. Just as the townspeople are turning against outsiders, Forest is turning against Matty and Kira. Things are coming to a crisis within both Forest and Village. The more selfish the villagers become the more aggressive Forest becomes.
The pace quickens in these chapters. The chapters are shorter but packed with action, increasing the suspense. There is a feeling of hopelessness as the walls close around Village and the vines close around Leader. The parallels that Lowry has been drawing between Village and Forest are increasingly obvious. The mood of the story is also gloomier. It is dark in the Forest, and there are constant struggles. The fears Matty has about Forest and his capability to handle it have become a reality.
For the first time in his journeys through Forest, Matty begins to feel hopeless. He knows how dire the situation is and how much Forest has changed. He doubts himself and doesn’t see the point of his gift. Matty, who used to refer to himself as “the Fiercest of the Fierce,” has hit his breaking point. The narrator says, “He thought of his gift. Useless now. Probably he still had the strength and power to repair his own wounded arms or Kira’s tortured feet. But then the next onslaught would come, and the next, and he would be too weakened to resist it” (157).
Lowry has created a “darkest hour” passage where all hope seems lost and there doesn’t seem to be any chance for the protagonist. It appears that selfishness has won; Mentor and his supporters are ready to build the wall, and Forest has turned against Matty, Kira, and Leader.
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By Lois Lowry
