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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Hands
Throughout Gathering Blue, hands are used to show the diverse ways people navigate the world. Though Kira hadn’t displayed any particular strengths at birth, Katrina had always told her that she fought to keep her alive because of Kira’s strong grip on her thumb. Thus, Kira believes that her strong hands saved her, and as a result she focuses on the hands of others. From Jamison’s hands that have “no hesitancy, no uncertainty” in their movements, to Annabella’s crooked, colorful hands stained with dye, to Christopher’s hands that he uses to feel his way through the woods without sight, the hands of the people in Kira’s life are expressive in ways that are distinctive from one another. Kira’s own hands are also an important vector for understanding her own creativity and artistry. When Kira first discovers her gift for weaving, she experiences it as a sort of magic in her fingertips, and when she begins to lose the joy in weaving, she feels it as an ache in her hands. Finally, in the last moments of Gathering Blue, Kira feels the blue threads stirring with life as they are gathered in her hand.
Plants and Gardens
Beginning with the vegetable garden that has nourished Kira and Katrina over the years in the absence of the meat that a hunter could provide, gardens play a pivotal role in village life. Some of the plants have distinct uses, like vegetables, but some only reveal their uses to a well-trained eye, like those in Katrina’s color garden. There is also poisonous oleander, which Kira thinks should be removed for the safety of tykes, but Matt believes it is necessary to teach tykes life lessons. As for woad, arguably the most important plant to Gathering Blue’s plot, it is relegated to the status of legend until Matt and Christopher eventually bring some to Kira. The world of Gathering Blue may be unforgiving and bleak, but a wide range of plants still grow and beautiful flowers still bloom, even after taking a beating. Each one is a reminder that life can thrive even in the most punishing circumstances, an essential undercurrent to the story of Kira’s struggle for truth and peace despite adversity.
Disability
Kira understands herself to be unique largely because of her physical disability, so the other examples of disability that appear throughout Gathering Blue are important to defining exactly what makes Kira different. Branch, with his crooked tail, and Camilla the weaver, with her broken arm, have disabilities that are similar to Kira’s. Because of the people around them, though, Branch is allowed to live and thrive as Matt’s companion, while Camilla must go to the Field of Leaving under the assumption that she will die there. There are other disabilities that do not directly resemble Kira’s, but rather help her paint a picture of the larger world in which she lives and of her place in it. Christopher’s blindness and the Singer’s disfigured feet are both revealed in Gathering Blue’s final act as a way of finally unveiling the truth of the village to Kira. The Council of Guardians caused both of their disabilities, but while the Singer’s disability is both the result of his captivity and what keeps him imprisoned, Christopher’s disability does not hold him back because he lives in a community of people who help and care for him.
