Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Among the Hidden, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Propaganda, Fear, and Control
Privilege, Wealth, and Perspective
Protest and Resistance
Coming of Age, Independence, and Family
Summary
Analysis
At supper that night, Mother puts Luke’s loaves on her special holiday plates—but Luke did something wrong, so the loaves are flat and misshapen. He wishes she’d just gotten rid of them. Ignoring this, Luke asks if he could sit with everyone else. It’s cold out, so it wouldn’t be suspicious to draw the shades. Dad says someone might see Luke through the shade, and Mother says that a fifth shadow through the shade might be suspicious. They’re just trying to protect him. Luke is glad to be on his own on the stairs when Dad complains that he only got home early because he couldn’t afford any farm equipment at the auction today—Luke can grumble without anyone knowing.
Mother is doing her best to try to help Luke feel better by making a big fuss over his bread. However, she doesn’t understand that if Luke doesn’t get to enjoy the bread at the table with the rest of his family, he’s not interested in accepting her attention. Luke desperately wants to feel like he exists and is a valued member of his family—and sitting on the staircase, supposedly for his safety, is making him feel the opposite. Dad again highlights how poor the family is when he notes he couldn’t afford anything at the auction.
Themes
Luke is even gladder to be by himself when Mark asks what’s wrong with the bread. When Mother says Luke made it, Mark says, “Yuck.” Luke jokes that he poisoned one of the loaves with something that will only kill Mark. Luke feels weird about the joke—he’d never poison anyone, but also, if one of his brothers died, would Luke be able to take their place and live a normal life? Mark makes a show of trying the bread and announces that it’s terrible. Luke has to agree. Dad says that Luke doesn’t have to get good at baking bread because one day he’ll be married and have a wife to bake for him. Mark teases Luke about getting married, but Luke has a lump in his throat again. He’s never getting married, since he’s never leaving the house.
Luke’s difficult situation is now leading him to think uncomfortable thoughts, such as what might happen if Mark were to actually die. Thinking this way is a direct result of growing up knowing that he only has to hide because he already has two brothers, so on some level, Luke has grown up resenting Matthew and Mark. This is another way that Luke’s status as a third child is distancing him from his family. Then, it’s even more difficult for Luke to realize he’s never going to do adult things like get married. Marriage would mean meeting someone outside the family, and this would put him in danger. Dad also seems to joke about marriage in a very offhand way, suggesting he hasn’t thought about how hurtful this comment might be—or, indeed, that Luke will probably never marry.
Themes
As the rest of his family teases Matthew about his girlfriend, Luke asks to be excused. Back in his room, he looks out the back vent. Some of the houses have their shades drawn, but Luke can see through most of the windows at the families eating dinner. The Sports Family is the only family with totally dark blinds.
The Sports Family’s totally opaque blinds tell Luke that it’s likely he was right, and he did see a third child in their home. Only people with something to hide—such as an illegal third child—would have privacy blinds like this, as far as Luke is concerned.
Themes
