The Community
The Community consists of many family units, coming together to be a group. The community is basically like the backstage crew for a play – you don't see them, but they contribute a lot to the play or in this case, the novel. The members of the community usually agree with each other on feelings about different situations. Perhaps that is because they all try to follow the rules. For example, the community, and all of its members, agree that it is rude to point out or mention other people's successes or accomplishments. This may be because everyone has different accomplishments so they don't want anyone to get emotionally hurt but we really don't know.
As you might know, it is always a good idea to have a leader if you want to keep control over a large amount of people or a community. We have mayors and governors and presidents to do this for us, but in the community they have a leader called the Chief Elder. The Chief Elder is selected every ten years. The Chief Elder leads all of the Ceremonies that occur in the community like the Naming Ceremony, the Ceremony of Twelve, the Ceremony of Release, and the Ceremony of Loss.
Character Trait Adjectives:
Judgmental (pg. 43)
When the family who lost their first Caleb got their second one, the audience slowly and quietly recited the name, not sure if this is right. This is just one of many times when the community got judgmental.
Serious (pg. 48-50)
During a long duration of the Ceremony of Twelve, the community was very quiet and was listening attentively. They heard whatever the Chief Elder was saying, but nothing else. This seriousness disappeared however once it was Asher's turn.
Insensitive (pg. 52)
Quote:
"… "Especially," she (the Chief Elder) said, chuckling, "the difference between snack and smack. Remember, Asher?"
Asher nodded ruefully, and the audience laughed aloud."
The community is clearly insensitive to other's feelings. Lois Lowry wrote that Asher nodded ruefully, meaning regretting or feeling sorry for himself. It's almost as if he doesn't want to bring it up, which we all can understand. However, the community doesn't notice this but actually laughs at him. That doesn't sound like sensitivity, does it?