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
Luke is on his belly in his attic bedroom, unhappily playing with a toy train. Once, he wanted nothing more than to inherit the train from Mark, but today, Luke just wants to play outside. These days, Luke can’t even be in the room with an open window—Dad shouted so loudly at Luke this morning when Luke peeked outside that Luke almost cried. Remembering this, Luke shoves the train off its tracks.
Luke is beginning to grow up: his train is starting to feel juvenile, and he longs for the outdoors, which to him symbolize independence and freedom. He’s feeling more constricted than usual these days with Dad so upset. And since Dad reacts angrily due to fear, Luke also feels like he’s being attacked for something that isn’t his fault.
Themes
Mark knocks at the door and shouts, “Population Police!” Luke snaps that that isn’t funny, but Mark bounds up the stairs to Luke’s attic bedroom anyway. (Luke has the biggest bedroom in the family, but he’s jealous of his family members’ bedroom windows.) Mark teases Luke for jumping about the Population Police. He’s been joking about the Population Police for years and it doesn’t normally bother Luke, but with Dad so worried, Luke is more anxious than usual. Suddenly serious, Mark says he’s never told anyone about Luke, so Luke is safe. He invites Luke to play checkers, but Luke nastily spits that Mother probably sent Mark up to play. Offended, Mark leaves.
Making jokes about the Population Police shows that Mark doesn’t fully comprehend how much danger Luke is in (this seems a more likely explanation than just being a jerk, since he assures Luke he’s safe). But right now, Luke isn’t willing to accept an apology, especially from someone who seems to lord his good fortune as a legal person over him. This is another indicator that Luke is growing up: he’s starting to see and understand how different his brothers are from him, and he resents that.
Themes
Luke feels bad for being mean, but he paces his room instead of apologizing. As he ducks under the rafters and catches sight of his model car collection, Luke realizes he hates everything in his room. He’ll never get to do anything and will just rot here. What if something happens to Matthew, Mark, Mother, and Dad, and Luke ends up dying in the attic? He’s read books about that sort of thing before.
Another way Luke shows he’s growing up is that he’s starting to think more critically about his future. He understands that his life depends on his parents and brothers being able to care for him, and it’s perhaps smart to think of what might happen if they can’t do that. But Luke feels powerless to do anything but assume he’ll just die.
Themes
As Luke looks up at the roof, he realizes there’s natural light coming in from two vents at either end. Mother always gives Dad a dirty look when he grouses about them—the vents, he insists, make it wasteful to heat the attic at all—but now, Luke climbs onto a trunk by one. Through the vent, Luke can see the road and the cornfield. He moves to the vent at the other end of the roof. From this vent, he can see the area where the woods once stood. There are bulldozers digging, and more people than Luke has ever seen (aside from a starving homeless person who came and asked for food once, Luke has never seen people other than his family members). The sight is overwhelming.
It's an indicator of Luke’s family’s poverty that Dad seems, on some level, to not want to heat the attic where one of his sons lives. Mother’s dirty looks, though, suggest that she’ll go out of her way to protect Luke’s wellbeing. Discovering the vents is huge for Luke, as it introduces him to the world outside his house. More importantly, the view outside isn’t mediated by his parents, as his books and toys have been. Being able to look outside gives Luke access to a world that’s totally his own—a sign of his growing maturity.
Themes
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Hearing Mother calling, Luke moves to his bed and tells her she can come in. Mother sits down next to Luke and says she understands how upset he is. Luke considers telling her about the vents, but deciding Dad might take issue with them, Luke keeps quiet. He leans into Mother as she says that things could be worse. This isn’t comforting—it seems like she means that things will get worse.
Deciding to keep the vents a secret is one way Luke asserts his independence. Even if he can’t leave the house, he’s creating a life for himself that’s totally his own. However, he still relies on Mother for comfort, and he realizes she knows more about their lives than he does—hence her insistence that things could be worse seeming particularly ominous.
Themes
