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Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
The Mystery of Creativity
Gathering Blue consistently portrays creativity as a mysterious force that some people can access and others cannot, and even those who can access it do not fully understand it. As Kira sees it, her skill at threading is related to her creativity but not identical with it. She has been naturally skilled since she was young, but she notes that the surprising surge in her creativity has happened only recently and without any intention on her part. Creativity lives in Kira’s hands and in the threads themselves, rather than in her mind as a force she can consciously control. Kira even compares it to magic, a concept that is otherwise entirely absent from the world of Gathering Blue. Interestingly, though, Kira only begins to see her own creativity as valuable beyond being an enjoyable hobby after she learns how important it is to the Council of Guardians. Not only is her source of creativity a mystery, but its purpose remains unknown as well, especially in a society that discards anything and anyone that doesn’t fall into a narrow definition of usefulness. Kira’s eventual realization that she can put her creativity to use beyond what the Council demands of her does nothing to demystify its source, but it does illuminate its best possible purpose.
The Power of Storytelling
Throughout Gathering Blue, Kira discovers both the effect that stories have had on her own understanding of the world and how she can channel the power of stories to change the world herself. Stories are everywhere in Gathering Blue, from the rumors and hearsay that have taught Kira what she knows about life in the village, to the fanciful stories she tells Matt and the other tykes, to the institutionally sanctioned Ruin Song that purports to teach the villagers about the fall of civilization known as the Ruin. Kira already understands the importance of stories of the past, more generally because of the annual Gathering which centers storytelling, and more personally because of the stories Katrina has told her about her own origins. Until the very end of Gathering Blue, for example, all Kira knows about her father comes from the stories her mother has passed along to her.
The pervasive lie about the existence of beasts suggests that storytelling has the power to alter the present in addition to preserving the past. Though the beasts are a lie cooked up by the Council of Guardians, they shape the lives of everyone in the village, creating a boundary of danger that controls the villagers. Though the danger isn’t real, the fear felt by the villagers is, so the story has a powerful impact. Kira realizes she can take this approach to storytelling one step further and use it to influence and change the future. This proves an even more powerful use of stories as a tool, and it shows the full range of how storytelling can be used: to preserve the past, to inform, to lie, to control, and to liberate.
Resilience in the Face of Adversity
Throughout the novel, Kira must find a way to thrive despite her harsh circumstances. The persistent theme of resilience in the face of adversity is intertwined with the novel’s prominent gardening motif, which showcases the strength of plants to keep growing against all odds, but it expands into all areas of the novel’s characterization and plot as well. Kira, who faces adversity at every turn, is the primary personal example of resilience, but the novel also suggests through Kira’s climactic realization that human civilization itself can change for the better through its struggle against adversity. Indeed, as Kira reflects on the cycles of ruin, rebuilding, and regrowth depicted on the robe that she must spend her days restoring, she sees an opportunity for a better future. While the focus of the Ruin Song is the eponymous Ruin, Kira is drawn instead to the story’s many examples of rebirth that show the resilience of humanity. She then views the world around her through that lens, regarding Matt and Jo as spots of brightness in the dark and dismal Fen, just like the flowers that bloom even after they have been trampled.
In Gathering Blue’s final act, Kira is ready to receive and understand Christopher’s explanation of the “village of the healing,” as he calls it in Chapter 22, because she has already discovered and catalogued so many other examples of living things that survive and thrive against all odds. Kira is surprised, but she never disbelieves Christopher’s story, and finally she can see in herself an ultimate example of an act of resilience in her world: to live on and create a better life for oneself despite being left in the Field of Leaving to die. Kira realizes that she is on the cusp of another period of rebuilding and regrowth, and now that she has blue, she can embroider that future and bring it into being in the Singer’s robe—and, hopefully, in reality. She knows the way ahead will be difficult, but everything she has learned tells her that she can persevere despite the obstacles ahead, and so can her community.
