Wiki #2

(Page 80-207)

Summary:

Gaia is now in the Enclave. When she gets there she witnesses an execution about to happen. The woman that was getting executed, alongside her husband, was pregnant. Gaia saw her mother from a far in one of the jail cells near and her mother gave her that look telling her not to do or say anything about the execution because they will catch Gaia and know that she is not from the Enclave. Of course, Gaia didn't listen and did what she thought was right and yelled out for the people to stop the execution because of the baby. The sergeants of the Enclave went through with the execution anyways and then carried the dead bodies into a room. Gaia lied to the guard outside the room and said that she was one of the family members who were supposed to see the dead bodies and the guard believed her and let her in. Gaia went in and cut open the mother’s stomach and saved the baby’s life. Someone walked in the room and said that she was crazy and ran off to tell one of the sergeants what she has done. When Gaia went out, she was caught by one of the sergeants and they took the baby away from her and took her into a room where she saw Captain Grey again. They had a conversation about what why she was there and how she could have been killed. Then Captain Grey grew fond of Gaia and had a change of heart and decided that he wanted to help her out. Later on that day, Gaia was taken to a Q cell. In this cell, there were other women here who were similar to her. The people from the Enclave put women who they think can help their society in any medical way in the Q cell. The ribbon that Gaia had, before she was put in the Q cell, was taken from her by one of the guards. In the cell, she became friends with a girl named Sephie; who also delivered babies. Sephie told Gaia that her father was shot trying to escape from the Enclave and Gaia was heartbroken. She couldn’t believe that her father had died. One day Myrna, one of the other women in the cell, took Gaia with her to help her with a job that she had to do in the town. On their way back to the cell with the guards, they bumped into Captain Grey and he told the other guards to take Myrna back to the cell and he would escort Gaia himself. Gaia ended up telling Captain Grey about the “freckles” her and her mother used to give to all the newborn babies before they advanced them. She says that her mother told her to give each baby four dots on their ankle that was shaped a certain way to look like the Orion’s belt because Orion was her mother’s maiden name. It turned out that Captain Grey also had the same “freckles” on his ankle meaning that he was born outside of the Enclave. He and Gaia grew close. When it came time for Gaia to be investigated about that ribbon with the strange writing on it by Mabrother Iris, Captain Grey decided to sneak and try to help out Gaia. The reason why the people in the Enclave wanted to know what was on the ribbon was because they needed a cure for all the advanced babies who were becoming extremely ill. They needed to know who their real birth parents were because it is a genetic cure. Mabrother Iris is blackmailing Gaia into helping him figure out the meaning of this ribbon. He says that he will kill her mother if she doesn't cooperate. Later on that night, Gaia and Captain Grey figured out the meaning of the ribbon. It was a record of parents’ loss, baby after baby. Gaia started to feel bad because she helped take these babies away from their mothers in Wharfton and gave them to the awful Enclave society. She also found out that the reason Captain Grey wanted to help her so bad was because he wanted to know who his real birth parents were as well. Gaia was heartbroken by this and felt used, but decided to help him out anyways. 

Connector:

When Gaia and Sephie went to this man’s house to help his wife give birth, the man rewarded Gaia with a mirror to thank her for helping his wife. Gaia didn’t accept the gift because of how she feels about her scar. She felt like that man was insulting her by giving her a mirror because she didn’t want to see how ugly she looks up close.

-                 - I can connect this part of the story to another story I read called “Cracked up to be”. In “Cracked up to be”, there was a girl named Parker who used to be the perfect teenager. She made a horrible mistake and her entire life just went downhill. Whenever people gave her compliments or tried to speak to her in general, she would turn them down because she believed she was a horrible person. Gaia and Parker relate to each other because something horrible happened to the both of them making them think that they are imperfect which causes them to not accept when others compliment them.

Questioner:

1.  Why is Captain Grey so desperate to find his birth parents in Wharfton?
2.  Would Mabrother Iris actually have killed Gaia’s mother if she refused to help him?
3. Why didn't the Enclave keep track of the advanced all these years?

Visualizer:

This photo symbolizes when Gaia got the mirror from that man and looked at herself for the first time in the Q cell. She didn't look at her ugly side with the scar on her face

This photo represents the time that Sephie and Gaia were walking back to the prison with the guards and saw people selling oranges in their shops. Gaia was really fascinated because she said it was rare to get an orange now a days and Sephie said that it was hard to get one in the Enclave as well unless you were wealthy.

My Thoughts on the Novel so Far:

“Birthmarked” is an amazing book so far. This is my first time reading a book where it is written in a future perspective. It allows me to question if the world will actually be like this in the next 100 years. This book isn't a difficult read. Everything is pretty straightforward and I would definitely recommend it to people who are ages 12+. I’m intrigued by the author’s thoughts throughout the story. This is how he assumes life will be hundreds of years from now and I find it really interesting. I think that near the end of the book, Gaia will find her mother and they will move back to Wharfton and they will also give the Enclave the cure to the sickness all the advance babies are getting. I also believe that Captain Grey and Gaia will fall in love and be together in the end. Overall, this is a great story, I think a lot of people would enjoy it and I can’t wait to see how it ends.