By Lois Lowry
Thesis Statement: Knowing one’s identity is a way of fulfilling one’s life purpose
Introduction:
The uniqueness of one’s personality, character and abilities defines his identity. Knowing one’s distinctiveness is a grueling process. A person must have enough strength and perseverance to surpass obstacles. He must be able to accept whatever mistake he does and learn from it. Gradually, the person will be able to know his true identity once he reaches a certain point of enlightenment triggered by a life-changing event or experiences. His purpose, however, is yet to be known. Man’s purpose in life is realized after death since at this point, one has fulfilled his mission or duty. According to Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, “What people are able to do is what God wants them to do.” It is also cited in the said book that each individual has to play a certain role planned even before he was born.
The book – Gathering Blue’s tackles the story of Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg who lives in a society where its savagery is masked for the people to think that they live perfectly. Though branded as weak and useless, she confronts these prejudices by showing her talent in weaving magnificent pattern in cloth. Her mother fought to keep her away from the people who continued to look down on her since she saw in her daughter her potential of being an exceptional weaver despite being handicapped. Her mother’s belief pushes her to improve her craft, thus becoming the official Robe-Threader of her community. In this paper, the researchers aim to relate the state of the community in the novel to the present state of the society today. The significance of the character’s abilities, strengths, as well as weakness will also be analyzed.
In a village restored by the last survivors of the tragedy that almost wiped out the whole human race, a young girl with a twisted leg named Kira burns her cot while grieving the loss of her beloved