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Clearly the women, dragging their bushes to build the pen, had simply walked across the area; yet the blossoms continued to bloom and she was awed to see that vibrant life still struggled to thrive despite such destruction.
In Chapter 9, when Kira visits the former site of her cott to see if anything remains of her mother’s garden for creating dyes, she sees that the women have trampled the garden while building their pen for tykes. The flowers still blooming there reflect Kira’s own circumstances, particularly in the context of being damaged by the women of the village who specifically tried to cast Kira out into the Field of Leaving. Kira’s awe at the flowers’ resilience also indicates that she is observing and internalizing these exemplars of such perseverance, which will eventually teach her that there is potential for positive change in her community.
In some places on the robe there was a feeling of entire worlds ending. Yet always there would emerge, nearby, new growth. New people. Ruin. Rebuilding. Ruin again. Regrowth.
This quotation comes from Chapter 12 during one of Kira’s thoughtful explorations of the stories embroidered on the Singer’s robe. Her observation that civilization’s growth and destruction seem to have occurred repeatedly over time in a cyclical pattern emphasizes humanity’s resilience despite destruction and chaos. It also implies the possibility of future eras of regrowth. Importantly, the use of the word “ruin” here indicates the negative sheen the Council of Guardians has cast over all of human history. The story on the robe is called the Ruin Song, but only half of it describes various “ruins,” while the other half paints a picture of resilience. It benefits the Council for the villagers to remain unaware that another cycle of rebirth is possible, but Kira can see that it is.
There seemed no hint of laughter or any history of it in this terrible place. Making her way through the squalor, Kira remembered Matt’s infectious chortle. She thought, too, of the clear purity of the small singer’s voice, and how the two children must have been the only elements of joy here.
This quote, which comes at the end of Chapter 17 as Kira and Thomas are leaving the Fen, depicts a different type of resilience than survival. Here, Kira reflects on Jo and Matt’s ability to bring joy to the bleak, downtrodden Fen. Before being taken to the Edifice, Jo’s singing brought beauty to her community, and before going on his journey to find blue, Matt’s personality brought laughter. Though residents of the Fen are certainly alive, Kira despairs at their desperate circumstances. This despair conveys her belief that mere survival is not an end goal in itself. There are other elements, like beauty and fun, that are essential if life is to be worth living. The implication is that this deeper, more complex understanding of resilience despite adversity will color Kira’s plans for the village’s future.
She saw the newly planted woad settle in, nestled where she had laid it gently beside the yellow bedstraw. "Mostly it dies after flowering once," Annabella had said, describing woad. "But sometimes you find a small shoot lives." It was those small living shoots she had planted, and something in Kira knew without a doubt that they would survive.
In Chapter 23, the last chapter of Gathering Blue, Kira is at first planning to leave her village behind and follow Christopher to his, but as she is planting the woad that Matt brought her, she remembers the shackles around the Singer’s feet and decides she must stay. In this quote, she remembers Annabella telling her about woad’s fragility, but also its resilience, calling back to Kira’s repeated observations of flowers and other types of beauty that survive against all odds. Her certainty that the shoots she planted will survive reflects Kira’s determination to weave a better future, as well as the optimism that differentiates her from the Council and inspires her not to settle for the status quo.
