Wiki #1

Birthmarked

Summary:

There are 2 society's in this novel. One is called Wharfton and the other is called the Enclave. The Enclave society is a lot richer than the Wharfton society. The job of the women in the Wharfton society is to give birth to children and send them over to the Enclave society and in reward they will receive anything that will help them survive, such as water. The rule of the birthing is that once you have given birth to 3 children and pass them over to the Enclave, you can keep however many children you wish to have after that. 16 year old, Gaia, was the 3rd child for her parents. She has a scar on her face which is the reason why she wasn't passed over to the Enclave. All the babies must be perfect so they can work and live perfect lives with no complications in the Enclave. Gaia is known as ugly because of her scar so she couldn't get passed over to the Enclave. Gaia is now being trained, by her mother, by become and midwife and help deliver babies. One night when Gaia's mother wasn't available to help her deliver a woman's baby because she was busy, Gaia was forced to deliver the baby by herself. When Gaia delivered the baby, she poked four dots in the baby's ankle, as she was taught by her mother and then took the baby to Enclave. She had a rough time getting there because the mother of the baby was begging for Gaia to let her keep her child. Gaia didn't have a choice but to keep walking, ignoring the mother. On Gaia's walk home after handing over the baby to the Enclave, she was met by Old Meg (her mother's friend and assistant). Old Meg explained to Gaia that her parents were taken by the security in the Enclave and were taken to prison. Old Meg then gave her a little pouch with a brown ribbon in it with weird looking writing and said that her mother wanted her to give that to Gaia. Gaia took it and tied it on her leg under her dress. Old Meg ran away from Wharfton and said that Gaia should go with her but Gaia refused because she wanted to see if her parents would return home. When Gaia went home later that night, she was met but Sgt. Grey (from the Enclave) and he wanted to ask her a few questions about her parents. The main question was about a list her mother might have kept. This list had a tracking of babies that were born from Wharfton and sent to the enclave. It was illegal to keep track of the babies who were born and the Enclave accused Gaia's mother of doing such. After Sgt. Grey left, Gaia wanted to go over to Enclave to try and see her parents. She asked a Derek, a baker, if he would help her to get over to Enclave without getting caught. It costed her 20 Tvaltar passes and some water but Derek did help her. She had to dye one of her dresses red, according to Derek, in order to cross over to the other side so she could fit in with the others from the Enclave. Before she went over, she was warned by Derek that when she wishes to return back to Wharfton, she cannot come through the same gate she went through to get over there during that day. She would instantly get caught and get killed. Now Gaia has crossed over to the Enclave society to try and find her parents.

Questioner:

1. Why didn't Gaia's mother give her the ribbon herself? Why did she give it to Old Meg first?
2. Why did Old Meg run away from Wharfton? What was she afraid of?
3. What is the true meaning behind Gaia's scar?
4. Why would Derek help Gaia get over to the Enclave knowing that she could possibly get killed if she is caught there?
5. Why will the Enclave people only allow the babies from Wharfton in their society and not anyone else?

Word Wizard:

Word	Pg. # & Paragraph	Definition	Reason for Discussion
Palliative	Pg. 29 Paragraph 4	Relieving pain or alleviating a problem without dealing with the underlying cause.	I was curious to know why the author would choose this word instead of a simpler word such as relaxing, comforting, or soothing.
Impertinence	Pg. 20 Paragraph 4	Lack of respect; rudeness	“It took her a moment to realize he was reprimanding her for her impertinence.” I didn’t understand this sentence with the word impertinence, so I needed to know the meaning.
Efficacious	Pg. 20 Paragraph 4	Similar to “effective”. Capable of having the intended result.	I liked the way this word sounded and now that I know what it means, I can use it for future essays/assignments.
Compensated	Pg. 5 Paragraph 1	Something, typically money, awarded to someone for hard work.	Compensated appears more than once in this novel and I wanted to know the meaning so I could have a clear vision of what it was they were getting compensated for.
Forfeit	Pg. 5 Paragraph 4	Lose or be deprived of as a penalty for wrongdoing.	Gaia said that is she didn't hand over the baby to the Enclave then her own life, as well as her mothers, were forfeit. I was curious to know what forfeit meant.

Connector:

In the novel, Gaia is putting herself in danger by going over to the Enclave just so she can see and try to save her parents

     - In reality, any child will do anything for their parents. I would definitely put myself in the position that Gaia was in for my parents. When you love your parents as much as Gaia does, you will do anything for them. Even if it will cost your life. 

When Gaia was all alone in her house after her parents were taken, her neighbour came over and was comforting her and even offered if she wanted to stay with him and his wife for the night.

     - It is important for everyone in life to have that person in their life they can go to when things go wrong. Even if it's not your parents and in this situation, Gaia didn't have her parents. If I don't have my parents to talk to, I have other people that I am close to that I can talk to just like Gaia.

When the women of the Wharfton have children, they must pass them over to the Enclave.

     - This situation is similar to when mothers give birth and give their child up for adoption. They aren't forced to give up their child, like the women in Wharfton, but the idea is similar.