As the four children of the Mysterious Benedict Society explore the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, the headquarters for Mr. Curtain’s nefarious plot, they discover how authority figures can exert control in stealthy and insidious ways by twisting people’s understanding of what freedom is. Mr. Curtain values control above all else, and his plan is dedicated to gaining control over as many people as possible. The Whisperer is a tool that allows him to extend his control into people’s minds, eliminating their free altogether. His methods of control are absolute, but they are not always obvious. When the main characters arrive at the Institute, for instance, their tour guides Jackson and Jillson explain that the school has no rules. However, they immediately contradict this by listing rules concealed as freedoms: students can eat whatever and whenever they want, as long as they eat what the cafeteria serves during meal times; they can keep the lights on in their rooms as late as they wish until 10:00; they can explore the Institute as they please, as long as they stay on the indicated paths and corridors.
The story depicts freedom as the unhindered ability to make choices for oneself, and the children of the Mysterious Benedict Society ultimately thwart Mr. Curtain’s efforts by refusing to give up their freedom. Mr. Curtain entices Reynie and Sticky with promises of privilege after the Improvement, but they resist this manipulation, and boys deny the Whisperer’s attempts to bring them under Mr. Curtain’s control. The key to their success is Constance’s “stubborn independence,” which enables her to resist Mr. Curtain and the Whisperer long enough to wear Mr. Curtain to the point of exhaustion. Their victory ensures that the public will retain free thought and independent will.
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Control vs. Freedom Quotes in The Mysterious Benedict Society
The newspaper that morning had been filled with the usual headlines, several of them devoted to what was commonly called the Emergency: things had gotten desperately out of control, the headlines reported; the school systems, the budget, the pollution, the crime, the weather…why, everything, in fact, was a complete mess, and citizens everywhere were clamoring for a major––no, a dramatic––improvement in government. “Things must change NOW!” was the slogan plastered on billboards all over the city (it was a very old slogan)….
The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened was unlike other schools….And yet, in certain ways, the Institute did remind them of other schools: Rote memorization of lessons was discouraged but required; class participation was encouraged but rarely permitted; and although quizzes were given every day, in every class, there was always at least one student who groaned, another who acted surprised, and another who begged the teacher, in vain, not to give it.
There was some kind of truth hidden in [the lesson], Reynie thought, but it was camouflaged with nonsense. No wonder it gave students trouble.
“Children despise superior minds, you know, especially in leaders, who must often make unpopular decisions.”
Reynie thought suddenly of Kate and Sticky, who had been so shocked at his suggestion to cheat on the quizzes. But they didn’t despise him, he knew that….
“One problem with being a leader,” Mr. Curtain was saying, “is that even among your friends you are alone, for it is you––and you alone––to whom the others look for final guidance.” (Reynie felt a pang. That was true, he thought. He did feel that way sometimes.)
“No one seems to realize how much we are driven by FEAR, the essential component of human personality. Everything else––from ambition to love to despair––derives in some way from this single powerful emotion. Must find some way to make use of this.”
Reynie had…a very troubling problem. Having been made to feel so wonderful––and so easily, so unexpectedly––Reynie found he wanted to give in to the Whisperer. Wanted it desperately. This was a disturbing development….
[Reynie] was hoping against hope that Mr. Benedict would find some way to save them––to save everyone––without requiring anything more from him. Reynie didn’t think he was capable of more, not since the Whisperer. He was worried, deeply worried, that the Whisperer had revealed to him who he truly was.
You shouldn’t let her go alone, Reynie thought. She ought to have help. But when he opened his mouth to argue, he found nothing would come out. A fog seemed to have rolled into his mind, and on top of that he felt bone-weary. He was tired, very tired, of always trying to do the right thing.
“Mr. Benedict! Is he the one who tricked you into joining him, who encouraged you to cheat on quizzes, who offered you ‘special opportunities’? Or was that Mr. Curtain, who said cheating doesn’t bother him, who rounded up poor unfortunates only to give them a better life, who has offered you a chance to be an Executive? How different are the two men? Not very, Reynard. The only difference is that one can offer you only suffering now, while the other offers you a way to belong––a way to relieve the loneliness.”
For a moment Constance and Mr. Curtain both trembled violently, as if caught in an earthquake….And then, in a voice so loud it hurt everybody’s ears, Constance exclaimed: “I…don’t…CARE!”
… This was Constance’s great gift––the gift of stubborn independence––and she was bringing it to bear with all her might.
For all her valiant resistance, though, the child was, after all, only a child….She could not hold out forever.
