Captives by Jill Williamson synthesis page

Critical Question: How does this text address the points of view (perspectives) of other groups, especially those who usually don’t get to tell their side?
Claim: The main character Mason doesn’t get to choose how his life can go because of his family and another group of people who live differently.

1.     The first character in the book Ciddah Rourke was in a situation where she had to follow someone else’s rules but disagreed with the side she was on. For example, someone said, “Lawten turned his calculating gaze down to Ciddah as if to remind her, Just like we practiced.” This was because she had a different opinion and couldn’t stand, standing up for something she didn’t believe in.

2.     After she walked out of the auditorium, she questioned everyone’s statements and felt confused. It said, “Once the doors shut behind her, she found the nearby bench and collapsed, puzzling over all she’d heard from the leaders of her nation… Ciddah could only hope the people of the outsider village would be open to the change.”

3.     Mason’s parents made an arranged marriage with the person he dislikes the most, Mia. It’s not fair that he doesn’t get a say in whom he marries and when he gets married. His father said, “I’ve made arrangements with Mia’s mother” and the response was, “Mason felt as if his father had slammed him into a brick wall.” His father made a point, which was to marry her for her looks and not her attitude towards him, which is not very smart.

4.     There are the outsiders that live in villages and in the woods and there are the people that live on the “Safe Lands” which look different with buildings and roads. The book said, “Mason and Omar had stood near the perimeter many times-Mason to forage plants for his mother’s medicinal stock, Omar to sketch the compound’s walls with his art tools.” Also, there is a rule that they live by that says the both groups are not aloud to go to each other’s property unless they are there to be useful.

5.     The people on the safe lands feel that it is all right to go on the outsider’s property and take people. They want to use them for testing and experimenting for their population. After they made a rule to not bother each other, it is not fair to force the outside people only because they are struggling. The books said, “We visit this young man’s village and encourage his people to relocate… We might be able to afford half dozen more uninfected trades… Why give them a choice?”