Among the Hidden
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Themes
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Among the Hidden
byMargaret Peterson Haddix
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Themesand ColorsKey
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Among the Hidden, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Propaganda, Fear, and Control
Privilege, Wealth, and Perspective
Protest and Resistance
Coming of Age, Independence, and Family
Summary
Analysis
From that meal on, Luke eats on the bottom step. He hates it: Mother speaks too softly for him to hear, and now Luke can’t hear what mean things Matthew and Mark are saying about him. After a few weeks, Luke stops even trying to interact with his family during meals. But one day in July, he can’t hide his interest, as a letter arrives about the pigs. Normally, mail is boring—it’s bills or Government orders to plant corn or use a specific fertilizer. But this letter is different. It's as thick as a letter from family, and Matthew holds it at arm’s length like he does with the dead piglets. Dad says that since it’s bad news, it can wait until after dinner.
What Luke resents so much about eating on the bottom step is being disconnected from his family. He can’t bicker with his brothers, and he can’t give Mother the attention he’d like to give her. This makes him feel even more alone and desperate for something to change. The novel again highlights how controlling the Government is when it notes that the Government dictates everything Dad does on the farm, from what to grow to how to fertilize crops. And calling those letters “boring” speaks to how normal this is for Luke’s family.
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Once Dad has finished, he opens the letter. He tries to read it aloud, but the language is too difficult. After consulting the dictionary and reading it silently, Dad announces that the government is going to make them get rid of their pigs. Matthew is aghast; he dreams of running his own pig farm one day. But Dad says that the smell is going to bother the people in the new houses, so they can’t raise pigs anymore. Luke asks if the government can really do that, but nobody answers. After a moment of silence, Mother asks what they’re going to live on now. The pigs were their main source of income. Dad, Matthew, and Mark all look at Mother. Luke can’t figure out why.
It's a huge blow for the entire family to have to get rid of their pigs. It affects the family’s finances, and Matthew’s dreams for the future seem to disappear in an instant. But again, there’s no room for the family to push back; they see the Government as fully within its rights to dictate this sort of thing. The Government’s reasoning also introduces that it prioritizes some people over others in this society (presumably, it values the Government workers who will live in the houses more than the farmers, and it is willing to put farmers in danger of financial ruin to make employees happy). It also highlights how disconnected Luke is from the family when Dad, Matthew, and Mark all look at Mother and seem to be thinking the same mysterious thing.
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