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Mentor
Seer (who is named Christopher in Gathering Blue) is the blind man that Matty lives with. He arrived in Village years before Matty was born after being injured and left for dead by men in his and Matty's old settlement. In Village, Seer is a beloved and integral part of the community. Though blind, he knows everyone, and he walks the lanes daily to check on the wellbeing of everyone in Village. He's also a skilled cook who tries his best to teach Matty the finer points of cooking, and teases Matty when Matty expresses no interest. Seer somewhat cryptically tells Matty at one point that Forest is an illusion and that he's not afraid of Forest, something that, by the end of the novel, shows how wise Seer is and how tuned in he is to the negative changes moving through Village (in other words, he sees that Forest's danger is the same danger that trading and selfishness pose to Village). Matty is like a son to Seer and the two are extremely close. Seer also has a daughter, Kira, who still lives in the village where Matty and Seer came from. Following the vote to close Village to outsiders, Seer becomes distraught and tells Matty to go to his old village and bring Kira home.
Seer Quotes in Messenger
The Messenger quotes below are all either spoken by Seer or refer to Seer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter One Quotes
"Were you scared of Forest?" Matty asked him. So many people were, and with good reason.
"No. It's all an illusion."
Matty frowned. He didn't know what the blind man meant. Was he saying that fear was an illusion? Or that Forest was? [...] Maybe, Matty thought, everything was an illusion to a man who had lost his eyes.
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While Matty and Seer discuss Seer's journey through Forest and his life as a sighted person before losing his eyesight, Seer insists cryptically that Forest's danger is an illusion. First of all, this allows the reader to understand by the end of the novel that Seer is one of the wisest characters in the book. He sees Forest for what it really is—a physical manifestation of all the transformations taking place in Village and the change of heart that many in Village have experienced. This also plays into the way that the novel conceptualizes physical difference. Seer, the novel suggests, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. U
But here in Village, marks and failings were not considered flaws at all. They were valued. The blind man had been given the true name Seer and was respected for the special vision that he had behind his ruined eyes.
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While describing Mentor for the reader, the narrator also explains the general thoughts in Village regarding physical differences. Village promotes a reframing of how people think of differences and disabilities; instead of viewing "marks and failings" as indicators of less worth, those differences are celebrated and make a person who they are. While Village focuses mostly on the collective good, it's able to do this so effectively because it doesn't single people out and treat them as lesser than everyone else. This indicates that in order to serve the common good, a society must be welcoming to everyone and in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium re
Chapter Three Quotes
"And so we would give up—or maybe even trade away—reading, and music, in exchange for the extreme excitement of pulling a handle and watching sourballs spit forth from a mechanical device?" he asked.
Put that way, Matty thought, the Gaming Machine didn't actually seem such a good trade. "Well," he said, "it's fun."
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One evening, Matty tries to convince Seer that they should trade for a Gaming Machine so their evenings won't be boring. Matty's desire to possess a Gaming Machine reminds the reader that though Matty is the hero of the story, he's still very young and certainly not infallible. The draws of consumer culture as represented by Trade Mart are just as compelling to him as they are to others, like Ramon's parents (who traded for a Gaming Machine and are therefore the reason that Matty wants one so badly). Seer's ability to distill into unsavory terms what the Gaming Machine Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Opti
Chapter Four Quotes
"It's not the fish or crops," he said. "They'll use that, of course. They argued dwindling food supply last time. It's..."
"Not enough housing?"
"More than that. I can't think of the word for it. Selfishness, I guess. It's creeping in."
Matty was startled. Village had been created out of the opposite: selflessness. He knew that from his studies and from hearing the history. Everyone did.
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As Seer and Matty discuss the coming vote to close Village to outsiders, Matty is shocked to hear Seer suggest that people want to close Village because they're selfish. Specifically, it’s telling that Matty thinks that Village’s history means that this is impossible. It speaks to the power of the history of the world to shape the future, at least for the youth who stand to inherit the future. For Matty, who at this point expects to grow up and continue to live in Village, it's essential that Village remain the kind and compassionate place that it's always been in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et
Chapter Seven Quotes
"Well," said Matty slowly, "when she was leaving, walking and talking with the other women, and her husband behind trying to keep up, she whirled around suddenly and scolded him for being slow."
"Slow? But he's all twisted. He can't walk any other way," the blind man said in surprise.
"I know. But she made a sneering face at him and she imitated his way of walking. She made fun of him. It was only for a second, though."
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After Trade Mart, when Matty tells Seer about what he witnessed, he recounts seeing one woman taunt her husband for walking with a limp. This is in answer to Seer's question of whether or not people who traded seemed different in any way, and Matty makes it clear that this behavior would normally be out of character for this woman. This suggests to Seer, Matty, and the reader that trading is compromising people's kindness and sense of compassion for others. It's turning these normally lovely people into individuals who think only of themselves instead of the greater good. This speaks Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusant
Chapter Eleven Quotes
"She's quite lovely, isn't she?"
Matty shrugged. He understood that Leader was referring to Kira but the blind man's daughter was older than he. She had been like a big sister to him. No one in the old place had thought her lovely. They had been contemptuous of her weakness.
"She has a crooked leg," Matty reminded Leader. "She leans on a stick to walk."
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After Leader looks beyond to try to see Kira in her village, he and Matty discuss Kira's physical beauty. Leader's question—and his willingness to call Kira beautiful at all—shows the reader how fully he's bought into the ideals of Village. Like villagers are supposed to do, Leader values difference, finds it beautiful, and is willing to celebrate others for their differences. Matty, on the other hand, shows here that he hasn't yet fully embraced the mindset of Village, even though on an intellectual level, he understands what Village seeks to do. Pointing out Kira's physical disabilities in response suggests that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commod
Matty glanced over and saw that she was standing in front of the tapestry Kira had made for her father. Even from where he stood, he could see what Jean meant. The entire forest area, the hundreds of tiny stitches in shades of green, had darkened, and the threads had knotted and twisted in odd ways. The peaceful scene had changed into something no longer beautiful. It had an ominous feel to it, a feel of impenetrability.
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Just before Matty leaves for Kira's village, Jean draws his attention to a tapestry that Kira made, which is now knotted and snarled. The forest in the tapestry clearly mirrors Forest in the novel's world, as at this point, Forest is "thickening" and becoming more ominous and malevolent by the day. This foreshadows Matty's future struggles as he tries to make his way back through Forest, while also suggesting that the negative sentiments in Village are reaching a fever pitch at this point. It's only a few days after this that Mentor and his followers begin constructing a wall to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provid
Chapter Twenty-One Quotes
He saw Forest and understood what Seer had meant. It was an illusion. It was a tangled knot of fears and deceits and dark struggles for power that had disguised itself and almost destroyed everything. Now it was unfolding, like a flower coming into bloom, radiant with possibility.
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As Matty sacrifices himself to Forest and uses his gift to heal it, he realizes what Seer meant when he said that Forest is an illusion. Now that Matty knows he has the tools to heal and fix Forest, he understands that Forest's violence is nothing more than a reflection of the violence and prejudice that Matty saw taking over in Village. By healing Forest and imbuing it with Matty's own blood—and by extension, his compassion, caring, and self-sacrifice—Matty shows that pumping kindness and positive regard into the world is the only way to effectively tackle both the symptom and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. E
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Seer Character Timeline in Messenger
The timeline below shows where the character Seer appears in Messenger. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One
...boy, but he's not quite a man either. Matty lives with a blind man named Seer, and they go through their familiar, friendly argument as they prepare supper: Matty wants to...
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Seer coaches Matty through sautéing onion and then adding rabbit, even though Matty complains about wanting...
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...people who try to leave Village, but it lets Matty pass untouched. He once told Seer that Forest likes him, and Seer suggested that Forest needed Matty. The people need Matty...
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Chapter Two
...thinks that Ramon's true name might be Boaster. Last night, when Matty got home to Seer, Seer told Matty that someone had died. Seer was able to listen and figure out...
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...he ever receives a Warning, he'll never go back into Forest again. He remembers how Seer received a Warning years ago, when Matty led him to Village. Ramon declares that he's...
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...that in Village, life proceeds as usual. Mentor teaches, while Jean sells flowers and bread. Seer walks through Village checking on everyone, and a tall young man called Leader watches everyone...
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Chapter Three
That evening, Matty comments that if he and Seer had a Gaming Machine, they'd never be bored in the evenings. Seer laughs and says...
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As Seer washes salmon, he asks if Matty really wants to trade away or give up reading...
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...insists that everyone in Village must learn. Once, when Matty was a boy and lied, Seer punished him by keeping him from lessons one day, and Matty was surprised to find...
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Chapter Four
...fish: people want to vote to close Village to outsiders. When Matty reads this to Seer later, Seer points out that they just voted on this a year ago. Matty notes...
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...Mentor isn't selfish. Mentor accepts everyone at school and teaches them all the same, and Seer agrees. Seer then asks if Mentor has traded. Matty thinks and says that he stops...
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Chapter Five
As Matty and Seer unearth beets in the garden, Matty says that Jean's dog had three puppies and she's...
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...when he has enough strength to do so. At the homeplace, Matty is relieved that Seer isn't home and crawls into bed.
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Chapter Six
Ramon hurries by Matty and Seer, calling out that new people are arriving and there's a pretty girl with them. Both...
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...look on Leader's face as the crowd begins to disperse. As Matty turns to follow Seer home, he hears someone calling out that Trade Mart is tomorrow night. Matty decides he's...
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The narrator explains that when Seer first arrived in Village, injured and ill, he listened to other people talk about going...
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Seer says again that something is different and that even Leader is worried. Matty tells Seer...
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Chapter Seven
When Matty gets home after Trade Mart, he tells Seer what happened. Mentor went first and stepped onto the stage after pushing everyone aside. Seer...
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...at a person, and Ramon's mother wasn't allowed to trade for a fur jacket. Restlessly, Seer asks Matty to make tea and confirms the verbal exchange people went through with Trademaster....
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Seer asks if anyone got things to take away, and Matty answers that some people were...
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Chapter Eight
Later, Matty excitedly tells Seer to look at the puppy sit on command, and then groans when he remembers that...
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...others are trading their deepest selves too. Leader listens intently. Later that afternoon, Matty tells Seer that Leader named the puppy Frolic. Frolic obediently sits and lies down on command to...
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Chapter Nine
...gently pets Frolic as Matty assures her that Village is welcoming and talks about how Seer learned to navigate blind.
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Chapter Ten
Seer speaks about being cared for for months by people in Village until he was able...
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After people finalize the vote to close Village, Matty and Seer walk home. Matty tries to make light of things and says that he'll probably get...
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Chapter Eleven
...is his old one, which is in regular communication with Village. Leader asks Matty if Seer mentioned Leader's gift to see beyond. They discuss Kira and that Seer says that she...
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...is momentarily disappointed, but then says he has to go—he promised to bring Kira to Seer. Leader asks if Kira will want to come, and Matty assures him that she will....
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...isn't ready to go until late afternoon. He packs the messages in his blanket as Seer packs food in a backpack. Seer asks Matty to tell Kira about the homeplace and...
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...seems ominous. Matty gives Jean a look and says the tapestry seems fine. He hugs Seer and Jean kisses Matty before he leaves.
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Chapter Thirteen
...spent his time wandering through Forest and once, found his way to Village and to Seer. He led Seer back to Kira, keeping Seer from the men who thought they'd killed...
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Chapter Fourteen
...the picture will fade. He sees himself, Frolic, and Kira preparing to enter Forest, while Seer is next to his home in Village. Matty also sees crowds of people, led by...
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Chapter Fifteen
Back in Village, Leader tells Seer that Kira and Matty have entered Forest. Seer is relieved that Kira agreed to come,...
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Chapter Sixteen
That evening, Leader tells Seer that all is going well. Seer is cheerful and happy to hear that Kira and...
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Chapter Eighteen
Seer sits alone at home, afraid. Yesterday, he started to dig Kira's garden and told Jean...
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Chapter Nineteen
...is too big to fight with a knife or a club. He thinks of telling Seer that his gift is his weapon. Now, he's not even sure what he meant by...
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Chapter Twenty-One
...longer attacking him. A breeze blows through Village and Ramon sits up, his fever gone. Seer feels the breeze and then touches the tapestry. He finds that the stitches are now...
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